Chicago Fire End Charlotte FC's Eight-Match Unbeaten Run 1-0 Behind Josh Cohen's Clean Sheet

Kristijan Kahlina made eight saves on Saturday night. It still was not enough, because the one ball he could not keep out came seconds after his own attempted clearance ricocheted off a Chicago defender.

The Chicago Fire beat Charlotte FC 1-0 at Bank of America Stadium, snapping the Crown's eight-match unbeaten run on a scrambled 58th-minute goal from a corner that ESPN's match data credits as an own goal off Luca de la Torre. Josh Cohen, making his first appearance in any competition for Chicago, kept a clean sheet, and Charlotte had a would-be equalizer wiped out by VAR barely a minute after falling behind. Chicago, the last team to beat Charlotte back on Aug. 1, did it again.

Chicago Knocks, Kahlina Answers

The Fire came out like they had somewhere to be. Jonathan Bamba tested Kahlina from distance inside two minutes, and the opening half hour turned into a shooting gallery. Kahlina stopped Bamba again in the 16th minute and Maren Haile-Selassie a minute later. In the 18th, Bamba finally beat him from the center of the box and rang his shot off the right post.

It kept coming. Kahlina saved from Johan Gómez in the 27th minute, then made two more stops in the 31st, one from Haile-Selassie and one from Gómez. Charlotte's club site credited him with six first-half saves, and he earned every one of them. The hosts' best look came in the 33rd minute, when Allan Saint-Maximin sent a shot from outside the box just past the left post.

The first half also got a bit spicy. Sergio Oregel Jr. was booked in the 23rd minute, Djibril Diani in the 34th and Saint-Maximin in the 38th. Somehow, it was 0-0 at halftime with no added time at all.

Two Minutes of Chaos

Charlotte lost Archie Goodwin to an injury at the start of the second half, with Tyger Smalls coming on in the 49th minute. Chicago kept leaning on the door, with Bamba seeing two more shots blocked by the 57th minute, and the pressure finally told a minute later.

Philip Zinckernagel swung in a corner from the left, and per the Fire, Kahlina's attempted clearance struck Jack Elliott and dropped at the top of the six-yard box. Gómez struck first time from close range and the ball found its way in. ESPN's data logs it as an own goal by de la Torre; the Fire's own match notes credit Gómez. However you score it, Chicago led 1-0 in the 58th minute.

Charlotte thought it had an instant answer. Diani hit the left post from close range in the 59th minute, Smalls put the rebound in, and the stadium had about two minutes to enjoy it before VAR ruled Smalls offside. That was the night in a nutshell for the Crown.

Charlotte pushed after that. Saint-Maximin forced Cohen into a save in the 73rd minute and Smalls tested him from the left side of the six-yard box in the 86th, but Cohen stopped both. Kahlina kept his side alive with a stop on Zinckernagel in the 72nd and another in the second minute of a seven-minute stoppage period. Tim Ream was then booked twice in the closing moments of stoppage time and sent off.

Cohen, Kahlina and a Lot of Shots

Cohen did not have to be spectacular, but he was steady when it counted. He made two saves, both in the second half, and according to the Fire, it was his first MLS clean sheet. He was filling in for Chris Brady, who was away on international duty with the U.S. Men's National Team. Chicago was also missing Robert Lewandowski and several others to international duty, which makes this road win look even better.

Bamba was Chicago's most relentless attacker. He took seven shots, more than anyone on the field, put two on target and hit the post. Zinckernagel added five shots, two on target, and delivered the corner that led to the goal.

Kahlina, though, was the best player in the building. Eight saves in a 1-0 loss is the goalkeeping version of acing the exam and still failing the class because of a group project.

The Flag That Saved the Fire

The real turning point came at 59 minutes. Within a minute of conceding, Charlotte had a post, a rebound and an apparent equalizer. Had it stood, the Crown would have been level with half an hour to play in front of their own fans. Instead VAR spotted Smalls offside, and Chicago spent the rest of the night protecting what it had.

Charlotte head coach Dean Smith was more focused on the goal his side conceded.

"I mean it's come back across and we didn't react quick enough and their lad did," Smith said.

The Numbers

• Shots on target: Chicago 8, Charlotte 2.
• Saves: Kahlina 8, Cohen 2.
• Total shots: Chicago 18, Charlotte 11.
• Possession: Chicago 59 percent, Charlotte 41 percent.
• Cards: Charlotte collected four yellows plus Ream's red; Chicago had two yellows.

What It Means in the East

Chicago improved to 12-6-8 with 42 points and won for the first time since a 2-1 victory at Orlando on Aug. 19, ending a six-match winless run. According to the club, the Fire stayed fifth in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand on fourth-place Charlotte. Chicago now takes two wins from two meetings with Charlotte this season, and it returns home to host the Vancouver Whitecaps on Oct. 6.

Charlotte fell to 12-7-8 with 43 points. The club noted the loss ended both an eight-match unbeaten streak and a run of six straight unbeaten MLS home matches dating to May 13. Ream's red card rules him out of the next match, a home date with FC Dallas on Oct. 10.

Captain Ashley Westwood was not buying any panic. "First half we were poor, we were," he said. "We couldn't quite get to them, but second half you saw what we're about."

Two Points of View

There will be people who watch this game back and see a Charlotte side that dominated the second half and got robbed by an offside line. There will be others who see Chicago creating 18 shots without Lewandowski and wonder how it was ever that close. Both can be true. The Fire got the points, and Charlotte got a reminder of what an unbeaten run actually is: a streak that only feels permanent until somebody ends it.

"The lads know how good we are," Westwood said. "We demand to win every game and we believe we can do that."

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes and match notes as reported by Charlotte FC (charlottefootballclub.com), Chicago Fire FC (chicagofirefc.com) and MLSsoccer.com.