Ten-Man Chicago Fire FC Falls 5-1 to Nashville SC
July 17, 2021 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Chicago Fire FC News Release
NASHVILLE - Playing with a man down for 76 minutes, Chicago Fire FC (3-8-2, 11 points) fell 5-1 to Nashville SC (5-1-7, 22 points) at Nissan Stadium on Saturday night.
The Fire conceded four goals in the first 39 minutes of the match, with midfielder Hany Mukhtar scoring three times to notch the fastest hat-trick in MLS history. Prior to Mukhtar's third goal in the 16th minute, the Fire were reduced to 10 men when defender Johan Kappelhof was shown a straight red card for bringing down former Fire forward CJ Sapong just outside the 18-yard box. Nashville added a fourth in the 39th minute when Sapong scored his third goal in 2021.
Chicago pulled one back just two minutes into the second half when forward Ignacio Aliseda finished midfielder Przemysław Frankowski's pass through the six-yard box, notching his third goal in as many games (WATCH). Nashville added a fifth when midfielder Brian Anunga scored his first MLS goal in the 62nd minute.
NEXT GAME: Chicago Fire FC begin a two-game homestand on Wednesday, July 21 against D.C. United. The match will begin at 7:00 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on WGN-TV, CFFC Live and WOJO 105.1 FM. Tickets for the Fire's game on Wednesday are available for purchase here.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #CFFC #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
NOTES:
Tonight's match was the second all-time meeting between Chicago and Nashville. The two teams previously battled to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 31, 2020.
The result marked the first loss since June 23 for the Fire, who were riding a three-game unbeaten streak coming into tonight's game.
Former Fire players Jalil Anababa (2011-2013), Dax McCarty (2017-2019) and CJ Sapong (2019-2020) started for Nashville SC tonight.
The Fire were without team captain Francisco Calvo, who was called up to represent Costa Rica in the Concacaf Gold Cup.
Head coach Raphael Wicky missed tonight's match due to a health matter concerning a close family member in Switzerland. Wicky will also miss the July 21 home match against D.C. United. Assistant coach Frank Klopas will continue to lead the team in his absence.
Goals:
NSH - Mukhtar (5) (Sapong 2) (WATCH) 10'
NSH - Mukhtar (6) (Lovitz 4, Leal 5) (WATCH) 13'
NSH - Mukhtar (7) (WATCH) 16'
NSH - Sapong (3) (WATCH) 39'
CHI - Aliseda (3) (Frankowski 3) (WATCH) 47'
NSH - Anunga (1) (Nealis 1) (WATCH) 62'
Discipline:
CHI - Kappelhof (Red Card) 20'
CHI - Pineda (Yellow Card) 27'
CHI - Navarro (Yellow Card) 49'
Box Score:
Nashville SC 5:1 Chicago Fire FC
Chicago Fire FC: GK Shuttleworth, D Kappelhof ©, D Pineda, D Omsberg, M Sekulić, M Navarro (Bornstein 67'), M Frankowski, M Medrán (Stojanović 67'), M Herbers (Giménez 46'), F Berić (Offor 46'), F Aliseda (Espinoza 82')
Subs not used: GK G. Slonina, M Casas Jr., M Gutiérrez, F Collier
Nashville SC: GK Willis, D Lovitz, D Anibaba, D Romney, D Maher, D Nealis, M McCarty © (LaGrassa 65'), M Mukhtar (Muyl 65'), M Anunga (Haakenson 74'), F Leal (Danladi 74'), F Sapong (Cádiz 67')
Subs not used: GK Meredith, D Miller, D Washington, F Rios
Stats Summary: NSH / CHI
Shots: 25 / 14
Shots on Goal: 12 / 4
Passing Accuracy: 88/1% / 82.1%
Saves: 7 / 2
Corners: 7 / 4
Fouls: 14 / 9
Total passes: 481 / 402
Offsides: 2 / 0
Possession: 54.8% / 45.2%
Referee: Lukasz Szpala
Assistant Referees: Ian Anderson, Cameron Blanchard
Fourth Official: Tori Penso
VAR: Kevin Stott, Matthew Nelson
• Discuss this story on the Major League Soccer message board...
Major League Soccer Stories from July 17, 2021
- CF Montreal Earns Wild 5-4 Win over FC Cincinnati in Return to Montreal - Club de Foot Montreal
- Ten-Man Chicago Fire FC Falls 5-1 to Nashville SC - Chicago Fire FC
- Notes & Quotes: Columbus Crew 2 - 1 New York City FC - New York City FC
- Toronto FC (1) - Orlando City SC (1) Post Game Summary - Toronto FC
- Nani's Penalty Strike Earns Lions Road Point at Toronto - Orlando City SC
- New York Red Bulls Match against Inter Miami CF Postponed - New York Red Bulls
- Inter Miami CF Match against the Red Bulls Postponed Due to Inclement Weather - Inter Miami CF
- Sounders FC Takes on Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field Tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. PT - Seattle Sounders FC
- Atlanta United Falls 1-0 to New England Revolution - Atlanta United FC
- Revolution Defeat Atlanta United FC, 1-0 - New England Revolution
- Minnesota United FC vs. Seattle Sounders Preview - Minnesota United FC
- Earthquakes Face the Colorado Rapids Tonight - San Jose Earthquakes
- Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Raphael Wicky to Miss Next Two Matches - Chicago Fire FC
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
