RECAP | Chicago Fire FC 2, FC Cincinnati 3

FC Cincinnati defeated Chicago Fire FC, 3-2, Saturday night at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. Evander scored his first career hat trick for the Orange and Blue (4-4-3, 15 points) to help take three points against Chicago.
 
Evander and Chicago’s Hugo Cuypers exchanged first half braces to send the match into the break tied 2-2. Cuypers scored in the 16th and 28th minutes but Cincinnati’s Brazilian playmaker answered each Chicago goal, matching Cuypers with goals in the 24th and 31st minutes.
 
Chicago was awarded a late second-half penalty, but goalkeeper Roman Celentano, who set a career high for saves in a match with eight, made a save against Cuypers to keep Cincinnati level.
 
Evander would go on to convert a penalty in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time to complete his hat trick. The hat trick also marks Evander’s sixth multi-goal performance for the Orange and Blue. Evander has five goals this season. 
 
FC Cincinnati remain on the road for their next MLS match, taking on Charlotte FC on Saturday, May 9 at Bank of America Stadum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET and will air globally on Apple TV. 
 
GAME NOTES
- Evander scored his first career hat trick against the Fire. Evander records his sixth multi-goal performance for FC Cincinnati since joining the club in 2025. Evander has now scored in three of Cincinnati’s last four matches. Evander has five goals in MLS play this season.
- Pavel Bucha made his 100th appearance for FC Cincinnati, across all competitions, Saturday night against Chicago. Bucha becomes the 11th player in FC Cincinnati history to hit the 100-appearance mark. 96 of Bucha’s 100 appearances have been starts.
- Roman Celentano set a career high for saves in a single match with eight, which includes his penalty save against Hugo Cuypers in second-half stoppage time (90’+1).
- Defender Nick Hagglund Matt Miazga returned to play after absences due to injury. Hagglund made his first appearance since April 18 against Chicago, while Miazga sees his first minutes since April 11 against Toronto FC. Both players were second half substitutes.
- Saturday’s result marks the second time in club history in which FC Cincinnati have won a match after going down a man while tied or trailing in a match (3/22/26 vs CF Montréal, 4-3).
- Kenji Mboma Dem recorded his first MLS assist.
 
FC CINCINNATI GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati at Chicago Fire FC 
Date: May 2, 2026
Competition: MLS Regular Season
Venue: Soldier Field | Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 18,639
Kickoff: 8:40 p.m. ET
Weather: 53 degrees, clear
 
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
CHI: 2-0-2
CIN: 2-1-3
 
CHI – Hugo Cuypers 16’, Hugo Cuypers (Zinckernagel, Salétros) 28’
 
CIN – Evander 24’, Evander 31 (Kenji Mboma Dem, Gerardo Valenzuela), Evander (PK) 90’+7
 
LINEUPS
CIN: Roman Celentano, Samuel Gidi, Andrei Chirila, Kyle Smith, Bryan Ramirez (Ayoub Lajhar 88’), Tah Brian Anunga (Nick Hagglund 46’), Gerardo Valenzuela (Matt Miazga 66’), Pavel Bucha, Evander (C), Kévin Denkey (Ayoub Jabbari 77’), Kenji Mboma Dem (Tom Barlow 77’)
 
Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Gilberto Flores, Stiven Jimenez, Ender Echenique
 
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
 
CHI: Chris Brady, Andrew Gutman, Jack Elliot (C), Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Johnny Dean (Jason Shokalook 90’+7), Dje D’Avila, Anton Saletros, Robin Lod (Jonathan Bamba 59’), Maren Haile-Selassie, Hugo Cuypers, Philip Zinckernagel
 
Substitutes not used: Josh Cohen, Puso Dithejane, Viktor Radojevic, Joel Waterman, Mauricio Pineda, Dylan Borso, Sergio Oregel Jr.
 
Head Coach: Gregg Berhalter
 
STATS SUMMARY: CHI/CIN
Shots: 32 / 11
Shots on Goal: 10 / 4
Saves: 1 / 8
Corner Kicks: 10 / 1
Fouls: 12 / 5
Offside: 1 / 0
Possession: 52.4 / 47.6
 
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Kyle Smith (Red Card) 56’
CIN – Kévin Denkey (Yellow Card) 68’
CIN – Ayoub Lajhar (Yellow Card) 90’
CHI – Dje D’Avilla (Yellow Card) 90’+3
CIN – Andrei Chirila (Yellow Card) 90’+12

OFFICIALS
Referee: Joe Dickerson
Ast. Referees: Cameron Blanchard, Logan Brown
Fourth Official: Ricardo Montero
VAR: José Carlos Rivero 
AVAR: Craig Lowry