Sporting KC Suffers Defeat at Chicago Fire
MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Suffers Defeat at Chicago Fire

Published on April 25, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City (1-7-1, 4 pts.) suffered a 5-0 defeat against the Chicago Fire (5-2-2, 17 pts.) at Soldier Field on Saturday night with all five goals coming in the second half for the hosts.

On his return to the club that he coached from 2020-2021, head coach Raphael Wicky made four changes to the lineup from last Friday's setback in Vancouver as Lasse Berg Johnsen, Jake Davis, Ian James and Jansen Miller were all restored in place of Diego Borges and Justin Reynolds - who both missed the match through injury - while Jacob Bartlett and Cielo Tschantret moved to the bench.

Sporting enjoyed a strong start and almost took the lead in the eighth minute when Calvin Harris struck the outside of the post from just inside the area after enterprising work up the left wing from Capita Capemba and Dejan Joveljic.

After a first half mostly devoid of goalmouth action, the Fire earned a penalty kick early in the second period when Ian James was penalized for handball while blocking Andrew Gutman's strike inside the area. John Pulskamp dove to his right to deny Chicago top scorer Hugo Cuypers' penalty kick - his second penalty stop of the season - but Philip Zinckernagel followed up to bundle the ball into the back of the net and give the home side a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute.

Sporting looked to respond and almost found an equalizer in the 62nd minute when Manu Garcia spung Capita in behind the Chicago backline but the Angolan's finish went wide of the near post under intense pressure from Jack Elliott.

Instead it was the hosts that doubled the lead in the 65th minute when Zinckernagel added his second of the night, slotting into the corner after some intricate build-up on the edge of the area.

With Sporting pushing forward looking for a way back into the game, the Fire scored a quickfire double on the counterattack as first Cuypers tallied to make it 3-0 in the 73rd minute before Maren Haile-Selassie added a fourth in the 79th minute. Cuypers added his eighth goal of the season off a corner kick with the final kick of the game in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time to seal the result.

Sporting returns home next weekend when the team hosts perennial Western Conference power the Seattle Sounders at Sporting Park on Saturday, May 2. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. CT on Apple TV, while the game will be air on the radio on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM. Tickets are available via SeatGeek.com.

QUOTES

Sporting Kansas City head coach Raphael Wicky

On why the game got out of hand after the opening goal...

In my opinion I don't think it was structural. I think we were very well in the game. We knew it was going to be difficult, Chicago is a team which has a lot of possession and plays well. We wanted to be very compact, which we were in the first half, and then break out when we can, threaten them in behind. I think the game plan went well. Then we concede the penalty, which I haven't really seen. It felt harsh, but obviously with VAR these days, they check. It's a tough one. Then it's like you say, then we break apart. It's not the first time this season. Then we start chasing, we start opening up, and when we open up and spaces get bigger, we struggle. I think that that was the big problem. After the 1-0, I think it was 51, 52 minutes, you have another 30, 35 - if additional time, more minutes - to come back into a game. So there is no need in that moment to chase. I understand the players that they think if you're compact, you don't get the ball. But you've got to try to stay in the game. And then out of nowhere, suddenly it's 2-0. Because there were still moments where we had attacks and then out of nowhere it's 2-0, and then we then fall apart.

On coaching players to stick to the game plan...

It's a mix of multiple things, I don't think there is one answer, and it's not the first time, right? It happened in one or two other games as well, where we then started opening up and started chasing. I think it's a mix of experience, of leadership, of players talking in the field and saying, 'no, wait, stop, we got to stick to the plan, we will stick together, not opening up.' So I think it's a little bit of probably all of that.

On if the season has been more challenging than he expected...

Yes, it has. It has because of where we were with the players coming in, where we are with injuries. We have then this smaller roster, which we all knew, we had then a lot of injuries, recurring injuries and then you get smaller. But that's not an excuse, it's then you start getting into a negative spiral and losing these games and that's why, of course, it has been tougher than I thought.

On the change in formation...

I think that went well. We have done this before, I think we were pretty compact against Columbus at home. We were pretty compact against San Diego in a similar shape. Galaxy, we won away in a similar shape. Right now, again, Justin Reynolds is out. So I don't have a real fullback on the right side. We know that Jake Davis can help out, but then when he's in the back four, it's not always easy for him against some fast wingers. So that's why we did this again. I think in the first half it worked really well. We knew that we have to suffer. We knew that we first have to defend well and give up less big chances and I think we did that in the first half and try to think defending first, everyone. I think the team did really well, we didn't give up much, we had a few breakouts, we hit the post early on. So I think they did well, but then it's when we open up, when we are not together anymore, that's when we struggle most.

On working to improve the defense...

We are working with the defense. I think it's again like I said, when we start not being together, then the gaps get bigger, the distances are too big and that's when we start struggling. In the first half I think the distances were very together, were very short, then the team defended well. We've got to just stick to what we do to defend better in certain areas, we cannot get opened up. Obviously then also we had two goals in transition, we lose the ball and we're open, that's another topic.

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Jake Davis

On what happened in the game after the penalty...

The penalty happens and then we're down away in Chicago and I think part of it is, we're not going to sit back and try to hold a 1-0 losing position. So I think what happens is we go after the game, we step up higher, we take chances, we take a little bit more risk. Chicago's a good team, they're clinical, they take their chances well. So I think it goes one to five because we're going after the game and yes, one to five is unacceptable. But we were going after the game. We did do well, we held them, but going down, we have to go after the game, and whether or not we're down one or five, we can't give up. And from a losing position, we're always going to go after them. So unacceptable to go from one to five, but we had to give ourselves the best chance to win and unfortunately, it went the other way.

On making the decision to chase the game...

We have a game plan and we stuck to Rapha's game plan, which was a great game plan. Also in the game, we start to grow into the game and even when you're down 1-0, maybe that also gives you obviously a kick in the butt to try to go higher. And yes, maybe we shouldn't have gone higher in moments, we should have sat back and stuck to the things that we were doing well. I think just from natural instinct from players, I think we just know we're losing and so we have to go try. There were a couple times where we were successful with the press. That's where we have to be more mature as a team and say, 'okay, those are the times to press, but we can't do that all the time.' I think that that was the point, we can't do that the whole half of the second. That's what happened to us, we try to do it too much and they punished us.

On the penalty decision...

I just remember from the play that I nicked the ball after the cross, Ian (James) stepped out and it looked like Ian made a good block. And whether or not Ian's hand was out a little bit or not, it really is 50/50 when the ref wants to call it or not. You could say that's not a penalty, you can, and he called a penalty. On the actual penalty. I don't know who wasn't running, I was just focused on following the rebound because I was confident John can make a save. I ended up in the back of the net. From my angle, I just was trying to focus on what I needed to do.

Sporting Kansas City is owned by Sporting Club, an entity comprised of local business and community leaders. Sporting prides itself on a commitment and vision to provide high-performance experiences. Sporting Club purchased the team from the Hunt Sports Group in 2006, and under its direction has launched Swope Soccer Village, Sporting Park, Compass Minerals Sporting Fields, Compass Minerals National Performance Center and Central Bank Sporting Complex while investing in the Sporting KC Academy and Sporting Kansas City II for developing local youth into homegrown talent. A charter member of Major League Soccer, Sporting are two-time MLS Cup champions (2000, 2013) and four-time winners of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (2004, 2012, 2015, 2017).

Score 1 2 F

Sporting Kansas City (1-7-1, 4 pts.) 0 0 0

Chicago Fire (5-2-2, 17 pts.) 0 5 5

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Ian James (Wyatt Meyer 74'), Ethan Bartlow, Jansen Miller; Jake Davis, Lasse Berg Johnsen, Manu Garcia, Kwaku Agyabeng; Calvin Harris (Stephen Afrifa 75'), Dejan Joveljic (C), Capita Capemba (Jacob Bartlett 86')

Subs Not Used: Stefan Cleveland, Jack Kortkamp, Jayden Reid, Cielo Tschantret, Taylor Calheira, Shapi Suleymanov

Chicago Fire: Chris Brady; Jonathan Dean, Joel Waterman, Jack Elliott (C), Andrew Gutman (Victor Radojevic 84'); Dje D'Avilla (Mauricio Pineda 84'), Anton Saletros (Sergio Oregel Jr. 76'), Maren Haile-Selassie; Philip Zinckernagel (Jason Shokalook 76'), Hugo Cuypers, Puso Dithejane (Robin Lod 61')

Subs Not Used: Josh Cohen, Dylan Borso, Mbekezeli Mbokazi, David Poreba

Scoring Summary:

CHI - Philip Zinckernagel 3 (Unassisted) 51'

CHI - Philip Zinckernagel 4 (Maren Haile-Selassie 1, Robin Lod 2) 65'

CHI - Hugo Cuypers 7 (Philip Zinckernagel 3, Maren Haile-Selassie 2) 73'

CHI - Maren Haile-Selassie 2 (Andrew Gutman 2, Jason Shokalook 1) 79'

CHI - Hugo Cuypers 8 (Jack Elliott 2, Maren Haile-Selassie 3) 98+

Misconduct Summary:

CHI - Andrew Gutman (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 10'

STAT SKC CHI

Shots 7 18

Shots on Goal 1 7

Expected Goals 0.8 4.7

Corner Kicks 2 4

Possession 30.8% 69.2%

Saves 2 0

Fouls 17 15

Referee: Brandon Stevis

Assistant Referee: Ian McKay

Assistant Referee: Tyler Wyrostek

Fourth Official: Sergii Boiko

VAR: Edvin Jurisevic

AVAR: Fabio Tovar

-- SportingKC.com --

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Major League Soccer Stories from April 25, 2026


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