Maren Haile-Selassie Scores, Chris Brady Makes Five Saves as Chicago Fire Edge Atlanta United 1-0

Chicago Fire FC spent Saturday night at Soldier Field tiptoeing along a ledge and never once lost its footing. Atlanta United rattled the frame, piled up 11 corners and put six shots on target. Chicago answered with one tidy finish in the 13th minute and a goalkeeper who simply would not budge.

That was plenty. Maren Haile-Selassie's first goal of the season gave the Fire a 1-0 win over Atlanta United in front of 17,764, Chris Brady made five saves, and Chicago banked a third straight victory and a second straight shutout. Atlanta outshot the hosts 20-18 and still flew home with nothing, which is turning into an unwelcome habit for the Five Stripes.

One Clean Look Was All It Took

Atlanta came out swinging. Elías Báez tested Brady from distance in the second minute, Saba Lobjanidze forced another stop in the ninth, and the visitors won six corners inside the first 17 minutes. The hosts landed the first real punch anyway.

In the 13th minute, Jonathan Bamba laid the ball back to the top of the area and Haile-Selassie met it first time with his right foot, low into the bottom right corner past Lucas Hoyos. Chicago's recap traced the move back to Philip Zinckernagel carrying the ball into the right side of the box, and the club handed him a secondary assist. ESPN's data credits Bamba alone.

Atlanta had been the better team for 12 minutes. Chicago had been the better team for about four seconds, and those were the four that counted.

Woodwork Bingo

Here is where the night got weird. In the 39th minute, Andrew Gutman headed an Anton Salétros corner off the right post. Chicago had three more efforts blocked over the next minute or so, and then Bamba hit the bar from very close range off another corner. Atlanta's website said the post was hit three times in that opening half, tied for the most in any half of regular-season soccer in Atlanta United history. Throw in a Bamba effort that Hoyos saved in first-half stoppage time, and it is genuinely hard to believe the halftime score was only 1-0.

The second half carried the same energy with fewer near-misses. Báez tested Brady again in the 53rd minute, and Enea Mihaj sent a header from a Miguel Almirón cross straight at the Chicago keeper three minutes later. Báez had another look from the middle of the box in the 68th minute, and Atlanta's recap credited Gutman with clearing it away. Emmanuel Latte Lath had two shots blocked in the 70th minute and headed a Jacob cross wide two minutes after that.

Atlanta, coached on the night by assistant Jorge Theiler with head coach Tata Martino suspended, per the club, threw on Luke Brennan, Cayman Togashi and Pedro Amador together in the 78th minute. Chicago nearly put it away in the 82nd, when Robin Lod set up Bamba in the middle of the box on what Atlanta's recap called a breakaway, and Hoyos came up big. Lod then clipped the left post from a tight angle in the 95th minute.

The Turning Point: Sixty Seconds Too Late

Rewind to the 14th minute. One minute after Haile-Selassie's goal, Tomás Jacob rose to meet a Matías Galarza cross and smacked his header off the left post. Atlanta's recap said Jacob got his head to another chance two minutes later, only to see it cleared off the line.

Score either of those, and this is a completely different match. Atlanta was dictating terms, Chicago was still adjusting, and an equalizer would have let the visitors keep playing on the front foot. Instead the ball bounced away, Chicago settled in, and the game turned into a siege the Fire knew how to survive.

The final act was fitting. In the 97th minute, Almirón had a shot blocked, and moments later Togashi's effort from very close range was saved by Brady in the center of the goal. Whistle. Ballgame.

Star Watch

Brady was the difference. Five saves, the fourth clean sheet of his season, and a closing stop that was pure muscle memory. Chicago has now allowed five goals in seven matches, a number the AP also highlighted, and Brady is a big reason why.

Haile-Selassie scored on his only shot on target. The club said it was his 14th goal for the Men in Red. Bamba, meanwhile, was everywhere: the assist, four shots, two on target and that crossbar. It was his second assist of the season, according to both the club and the AP.

Chicago's Xerox Man of the Match was defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi, whom the club credited with a goal-line clearance as part of an outstanding defensive night. Chicago played without forward Hugo Cuypers, who was listed out with a head injury and, per the AP, had scored in his previous four matches.

For Atlanta, Galarza was the bright spot. The club said he created a team-high four chances and logged a match-high 30 passes in the attacking third. Almirón made his 100th appearance for Atlanta United in all competitions, becoming the sixth player in club history to reach that mark, per the club. He just could not find the target on any of his four shots.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Atlanta 20, Chicago 18, with the visitors holding a 6-3 edge on target.
• Saves: Brady 5, Hoyos 2.
• Corners: Atlanta 11, Chicago 6.
• Possession and passing: Atlanta had 54.7 percent of the ball and attempted 554 passes to Chicago's 459.
• Fouls: Chicago 12, Atlanta 5.

What It Means

Chicago improves to 4-1-2 with 13 points. The club said the result lifted the Fire into second place in the Eastern Conference. The three-game winning streak runs through a 2-1 win at Philadelphia, a 1-0 home win over Nashville and now this one, and the last two were shutouts. Next up is a U.S. Open Cup trip to Detroit City FC on Tuesday before a visit to FC Cincinnati on April 18.

Atlanta falls to 1-1-5 with 4 points after back-to-back losses, the first a 3-1 home defeat to Columbus. The chance creation is clearly there. The finishing is not. The Five Stripes visit Chattanooga FC in the Open Cup on Wednesday, then welcome Nashville SC on Saturday.

Closing Take

Atlanta brought the volume. Chicago brought the hit single. Nobody remembers the band that played the longest set, only the one with the chorus everybody can sing. Right now the Fire have a catchy one: score early, let Brady handle the rest, and let the posts do a little moonlighting as defenders.

Stats from ESPN's match data and the AP recap via ESPN. Match details as reported by Chicago Fire FC (chicagofirefc.com) and Atlanta United (atlutd.com).