Fire Rally Past D.C. United 3-1 as Hugo Cuypers Becomes Fifth MLS Player to Score in Nine Straight Games

Philip Zinckernagel's penalty never made it past Sean Johnson. Hugo Cuypers made sure it didn't matter. In the 71st minute at Audi Field, moments after the D.C. United keeper's diving stop, the ball stayed alive, the box turned into a pinball machine and Cuypers poked it home from a few yards out. Nine games, nine games with a goal. The man is not slowing down for anyone.

Chicago Fire FC beat D.C. United 3-1 on Wednesday night in Washington, scoring all three of its goals after halftime to erase Tai Baribo's first-half opener. Robin Lod headed the equalizer, Cuypers delivered the winner and substitute Maren Haile-Selassie put the bow on it three minutes from time. According to MLSsoccer.com, Cuypers is now just the fifth player in league history to score in nine consecutive games, and the first to do it since Carlos Vela, who scored in 11 straight across the 2019-20 season.

From Down a Goal to Out of Sight

D.C. had the better of a scrappy first half in terms of danger, if not the ball. Louis Munteanu tested Chris Brady at 24 minutes, Jackson Hopkins forced another save at 30, and the hosts finally broke through in the 41st minute when Baribo found space in the center of the box and drilled a left-footed finish into the bottom left corner. Chicago, for all its possession, had little to show for it at the break beyond a Zinckernagel effort that Johnson turned behind for a corner at 44 minutes.

Munteanu kept coming after halftime, cracking two shots on goal in the 55th minute alone, one of them from more than 35 yards. Brady handled both. Then Chicago flipped the match in a 25-minute window.

At 62 minutes, Zinckernagel whipped in a cross and Lod rose in the middle of the box to head it into the top of the net. Gregg Berhalter immediately went to the bench, bringing on Puso Dithejane and Haile-Selassie, and both changes paid off. Dithejane drew a foul from Nikola Markovic in the box at 69 minutes, which led to the penalty, the save and the Cuypers scramble. Haile-Selassie then finished the job at 87 minutes, pouncing after Johnson parried another Zinckernagel shot and firing left-footed into the high center of the goal.

Cuypers Is Writing His Own Season Highlight Reel

Hugo Cuypers only took one shot all night. He scored on it. That's the profile of a striker who doesn't need volume to be lethal, just one loose ball in the right zip code. MLSsoccer.com reports he has scored 12 goals in nine matches, finding the net in every game he has played this season, and that he leads the Golden Boot race by one goal over Lionel Messi and Petar Musa. Chicago's own recap adds that the streak extends his hold on the club record.

He was refreshingly unbothered about the scoring race afterward. "I think the Golden Boot has always been a consequence of the work I put in," Cuypers said postgame, per MLSsoccer.com. "For me, it's a reward and a consequence, not a goal."

Philip Zinckernagel had the busiest stat line in the building: six shots, three on target, the assist on Lod's equalizer and a missed penalty. Two of his saved shots turned directly into Chicago goals, which is a weird way to be a creative force, but it counts.

Maren Haile-Selassie came off the bench at 63 minutes, got caught offside within five minutes and then scored the dagger. The goal was his third of the season, per the Fire.

Sean Johnson deserves a mention for the losing side. Five saves, including the penalty stop, and two of the three goals he conceded still came after he had made a save. Louis Munteanu was D.C.'s most dangerous player, with three of his four shots on target.

Chris Brady matched Johnson with five saves of his own, and none bigger than the pair he made at 55 minutes with D.C. still ahead and hunting a second.

Johnson Wins the Battle, Loses the War

The whole night pivoted on 71 minutes. D.C. had already been pegged back to 1-1, but a penalty save is supposed to be the kind of moment that swings momentum back to the home side. Johnson guessed right, got down to the bottom left corner and kept it out. Audi Field's celebration was brief.

Per the Fire's recap, Andrew Gutman refused to let the play die and got the ball back into the danger zone, and Cuypers did what he has done every time he has stepped on the field this season. Instead of 1-1 with momentum, it was 2-1 Chicago with D.C. needing to chase. The hosts pushed, piling up corners in the 79th and 81st minutes, but a Chicago set piece at 87 minutes cost them a third.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Chicago held 59.6 percent and completed 375 passes to D.C.'s 208.
• Shots on target: Chicago 8, D.C. 6, with each goalkeeper making five saves.
• Clearances: Chicago made 39 to D.C.'s 18, a sign of how much defending the Fire had to do.
• Discipline: Chicago collected five yellow cards. D.C. received none.
• Bench impact: Dithejane won the penalty and Haile-Selassie scored the third, both after entering in the 62nd and 63rd minutes.

What It Means

Chicago improves to 6-2-4 with 20 points and snaps a two-game skid after home losses to FC Cincinnati and Red Bull New York. MLSsoccer.com had the Fire moving up to fourth in the Eastern Conference with the win. The club also notes it was Chicago's second straight victory in Washington, and it settles a score from March 14, when D.C. won 2-1 in Chicago.

D.C. drops to 4-4-5 with 16 points. The loss ends a five-match unbeaten run that included draws at Philadelphia, Red Bull New York and Nashville, plus wins over Orlando City SC and New York City FC.

Chicago doesn't get much time to celebrate. The Fire visit CF Montréal on Saturday, giving Cuypers a chance to push the streak to 10.

Hot Hand, Cold Blood

Every great comeback movie has the moment where the plan collapses and the hero improvises anyway. That was Chicago's 71st minute. The penalty failed, the script flipped, and Cuypers simply found the ball and finished. Nine straight games, a spot on a list with only four other names in league history and zero interest in talking about the Golden Boot. Defenders across MLS are running out of ideas.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quote as reported by MLSsoccer.com; additional notes from Chicago Fire FC's official match recap.