Peltola's First MLS Goal, Baribo's Stoppage-Time Penalty Lift D.C. United Past Chicago Fire 2-1

For 80 minutes at Soldier Field on Saturday night, nobody scored a goal that counted. Then everything happened, most of it on a VAR monitor, and D.C. United walked out with three points they had to fight the clock, the Fire and the replay booth to get.

D.C. beat the Chicago Fire 2-1, coming from behind after Hugo Cuypers' 81st-minute penalty. Matti Peltola equalized three minutes later with what the club called his first career MLS goal, and Tai Baribo buried a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time to win it. Chicago had 66.5 percent of the ball. D.C. had the last word.

A First Half of Near Misses

D.C. United came out swinging. Baribo fired just over in the third minute after a João Peglow pass, Brandon Servania dragged a shot wide off a corner in the seventh, and the visitors put together a frantic sequence around the 20th minute in which Baribo, Silvan Hefti and Peglow all had shots blocked before Jackson Hopkins pulled one wide.

Chicago's best chance of the half belonged to Cuypers in the 32nd minute, when Anton Salétros crossed and the striker missed from the right side of the six-yard box. Philip Zinckernagel picked up a yellow card in the 24th minute after the referee deemed one of his falls a simulation, which set the tone for a cranky night.

The first big VAR moment came in the 43rd minute. Baribo put the ball in the net, but the goal was ruled out after a video review. Chicago pushed through seven minutes of first-half stoppage time, and Sean Johnson had to save a Jonathan Bamba shot, but the teams went in at 0-0.

The Turning Point: Two Handballs, Two Reviews

The second half played out like a slow chess match until the 78th minute. Leonardo Barroso missed narrowly in the 62nd, and Brady made his only save of the night on a Peglow shot a minute later. Fire head coach Gregg Berhalter tried to force the issue in the 65th minute with a triple change, sending on Mauricio Pineda, Maren Haile-Selassie and Joel Waterman for Dje Tah D'Avilla, Robin Lod and Jack Elliott. Chicago kept probing. Bamba fired high and wide in the 68th, and Salétros pulled a shot wide from the center of the box in the 72nd after a Zinckernagel pass. Neither found the frame.

D.C. had just sent on Caden Clark for Gabriel Pirani in the 78th minute when Hopkins was penalized for a handball in the box. VAR confirmed it, and Cuypers converted in the 81st, a right-footed shot down the middle.

Chicago's lead lasted three minutes, and D.C. would soon lose Peglow, who was replaced by Jacob Murrell in the 86th because of an injury. In the 84th, Peltola collected a loose ball near the edge of the box, per the Fire's account, and drove a right-footed shot through the center of the goal. 1-1.

Then came the twist. In the 89th minute, VAR flagged a Jonathan Dean handball in Chicago's box. The fourth official announced 12 minutes of added time, the review confirmed the penalty, and in the fifth minute of stoppage time Baribo stepped up and smashed a right-footed shot into the top left corner past Chris Brady. 2-1.

Chicago spent the rest of those 12 minutes pushing, but all it generated was a corner, a couple of offside flags and a blocked Zinckernagel shot. The final whistle went in the 18th minute of second-half stoppage time.

Star Watch

Baribo was the difference, even with a goal taken away. He had four shots, two on target, and the club said the winner was his third goal of the 2026 season. Peltola scored on his only shot, a moment that mattered more than any midfielder's stat line ever could.

The real story for D.C., though, was the defense. The club pointed out that Chicago managed only two shots on target, and ESPN's numbers back it up: D.C. made 37 clearances, 23 interceptions and 27 tackles. Head coach René Weiler kept the same starting XI from the 2-1 home loss to Inter Miami the previous weekend, according to the club, and the group looked a lot more stubborn this time around.

For Chicago, Cuypers did his job from the spot. The Fire said it was his third goal in as many matches this season, coming after he missed the game at Columbus. Zinckernagel was busy with five shots, and Viktor Radojevic made his MLS debut off the bench in stoppage time, according to the club. Jack Elliott, who came off in the 65th minute, made his 20th appearance against D.C. United, the most of any Fire player.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Chicago 66.5 percent, D.C. United 33.5 percent.
• Passing: Chicago completed 526 of 635 passes; D.C. completed 208 of 316.
• Shots on target: D.C. United 4, Chicago 2.
• Interceptions: D.C. United 23, Chicago 13.
• Clearances: D.C. United 37, Chicago 25.

What It Means

D.C. United is now 2-0-2 with 6 points and has snapped a two-game losing streak after defeats at Austin and at home against Inter Miami. The club said D.C. sits fifth in the Eastern Conference. Next up is a trip to Atlanta United FC on Saturday.

Chicago drops to 1-1-2 with 4 points and has not won since beating CF Montréal 3-0 on Feb. 28, a 0-0 draw at Columbus sitting in between. The Fire said this was the 74th regular-season meeting between the clubs, Chicago's third-longest rivalry behind Columbus and New England. Next is a trip to the Philadelphia Union on Saturday.

Closing Take

Chicago dominated the ball, controlled the territory and still lost to a team that completed 208 passes. That is the modern MLS experience in a nutshell: 80 minutes of possession can be erased by two arms in the wrong place and one person in a booth with a replay angle. D.C. will not care how it looked. Three points on the road, a first career goal for Peltola and a stoppage-time winner from its top striker is a pretty good Saturday.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Club notes from D.C. United (dcunited.com) and Chicago Fire FC (chicagofirefc.com).