Hugo Cuypers Sets Club Record for Consecutive Games With a Goal as Chicago Fire Rout Sporting KC

For 45 minutes at Soldier Field, Sporting Kansas City's plan worked. Then Hugo Cuypers missed a penalty, Philip Zinckernagel buried the rebound, and the whole thing came apart like a Jenga tower after someone yanks the wrong block.

The Chicago Fire beat Sporting KC 5-0 on Saturday night, scoring all five goals after halftime. Zinckernagel scored twice and set up another, Maren Haile-Selassie scored and assisted, and Cuypers recovered from his penalty miss with two goals that, according to the Fire, set a club record for consecutive games with a goal.

A Very Quiet First Half

Kansas City came to sit deep and hit on the break, and the first half went largely to script. Calvin Harris hit the right post in the eighth minute, and Chicago spent the rest of the half having shots blocked. Puso Dithejane, Zinckernagel, Jack Elliott and Cuypers all had attempts charged down, and Elliott headed a Zinckernagel set piece wide. It was 0-0 at the break, and Raphael Wicky liked what he saw.

"I think in the first half it worked really well," the Kansas City coach said of his switch in formation, per Sporting KC. "We knew that we have to suffer."

The Penalty That Broke the Dam

Less than five minutes into the second half, Ian James was penalized for handball while blocking an Andrew Gutman shot. Cuypers stepped up in the 51st minute and John Pulskamp saved it. Zinckernagel was first to the rebound and slotted it into the bottom right corner.

Wicky was not a fan of the call. "Then we concede the penalty, which I haven't really seen. It felt harsh, but obviously with VAR these days, they check," he said. Midfielder Jake Davis, who said he had nicked the ball after the cross, was not sure either way: "it really is 50/50 when the ref wants to call it or not."

The Turning Point

What happened next was the real story. Kansas City pushed up to chase the game, and Chicago carved them open. In the 65th minute, Zinckernagel combined with Robin Lod and Haile-Selassie, beat a defender with one touch, and finished into the bottom right corner for his first multi-goal game with Chicago, per the club.

"And then out of nowhere, suddenly it's 2-0," Wicky said. "Because there were still moments where we had attacks and then out of nowhere it's 2-0, and then we then fall apart."

Kansas City's best replies were an Ethan Bartlow header from a corner that drifted wide in the 56th minute and a Manu García shot over the bar in the 70th. Neither tested Chris Brady.

Eight minutes after the second goal, Zinckernagel turned provider on a fast break, sliding the ball across to Cuypers, who finished first time from the center of the box. In the 79th, substitute Jason Shokalook started a counter, Gutman slipped Haile-Selassie through, and Haile-Selassie went around Pulskamp and rolled the ball into an empty net.

Davis was blunter. "So unacceptable to go from one to five," he said.

Cuypers added the fifth in the eighth minute of stoppage time, tapping in from close range after Elliott played a corner across goal.

The Standouts

Philip Zinckernagel had two goals and an assist on five shots before coming off in the 76th minute. Per the Fire, he now has a goal or an assist in five straight matches across all competitions.

Hugo Cuypers took five shots, put three on target, and scored twice despite the penalty miss. Per the club, he has now scored in six straight games in which he has appeared, breaking the Fire record of five held by David Accam and Robert Berić. It was also his second straight brace. The Fire added that his first goal was the club's 100th all-time against Kansas City, making them the fifth team Chicago have scored 100 regular-season goals against.

Maren Haile-Selassie scored and assisted. Chicago's own count, which includes secondary assists, credited him with three, for four goal contributions in a match for the first time in four seasons with the club.

Andrew Gutman had a hand in two goals without scoring one: his blocked shot led to the penalty, and his through ball sent Haile-Selassie clear for the fourth.

Chris Brady was not credited with a save. The Fire said it was his second shutout in as many matches against Kansas City and Chicago's fifth clean sheet of the season.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Chicago held 71.3 percent.
• Passing: Chicago completed 668 of 737 passes. Kansas City completed 216 of 291.
• Shots: Chicago took 17 shots and put six on target. Kansas City took six and put one on target.
• Saves: Pulskamp made one, the penalty. Brady made none.
• Clearances: Kansas City made 31, which tells you where the ball spent the night.

What It Means

Chicago move to 5-2-2 with 17 points and, per the club, a season-high five straight MLS games without a loss. They have also won three straight at home, against Nashville, Atlanta and now Kansas City, without conceding in any of them. The Fire face St. Louis in the U.S. Open Cup on April 29 before hosting Cincinnati on May 2.

Kansas City fall to 1-1-7 with four points. That is five straight league losses, and across this game and the 3-0 loss at Vancouver before it, they have been outscored 8-0. Wicky admitted the season has been harder than expected.

"It's not the first time this season," he said of the collapse. "Then we start chasing, we start opening up, and when we open up and spaces get bigger, we struggle."

Davis pointed to the same problem. "Chicago's a good team, they're clinical, they take their chances well," he said.

Closing Take

Kansas City had a plan, and it lasted exactly as long as the score stayed 0-0. Once Zinckernagel opened the door, Chicago went full Pac-Man, gobbling up every loose ball and every mistake. Cuypers missed a penalty and still made club history. That is the kind of night it was at Soldier Field.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Additional details and postgame quotes as reported by the Chicago Fire and Sporting Kansas City.