Cade Cowell, Jorge Ruvalcaba Lead Red Bulls Past Chicago Fire 3-1 to End Winless Run

The New York Red Bulls walked into Soldier Field on Saturday afternoon without a win in five league matches and without a goal in their last two. They walked out having scored three times on four shots on target, which is the kind of efficiency usually reserved for a heist crew that knows exactly where the vault is.

Jorge Ruvalcaba scored on the stroke of halftime, Cade Cowell added his first goal for the club four minutes after the break, and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting converted a penalty that followed a VAR review as the Red Bulls beat Chicago Fire FC 3-1 in front of 23,647 fans. Hugo Cuypers pulled one back late, extending what the Fire called a club-record scoring streak to eight games, but the afternoon belonged to the visitors.

Chicago Pushes, New York Punches

For most of the first half, this looked like Chicago's game to lose. Gregg Berhalter's side had the ball, the territory and the early looks. Djé D'Avilla had a shot from the six-yard box blocked in the second minute, Jack Elliott headed just over off a set piece in the 13th, and Robert Voloder was booked in the 18th for a foul on Maren Haile-Selassie. Philip Zinckernagel was at the center of most of it, pulling a shot from a tight angle just wide in the 27th and forcing a save from Ethan Horvath in the 44th.

New York's first attempt came in the 20th minute, when Cowell let fly from outside the box and Chris Brady saved it. Emil Forsberg missed from the center of the box off a Cowell cross in the 37th.

Then came the sucker punch. According to the Red Bulls, New York won the ball in Chicago's half, Adri Mehmeti fed Forsberg, and the captain slipped Ruvalcaba in on the left side of the box. Ruvalcaba's right-footed shot found the top right corner, and Chicago went into the locker room trailing a game it had controlled.

The Turning Point: Donkor's Run, Cowell's Finish

Michael Bradley sent Choupo-Moting on for Julian Hall at halftime, but the decisive moment of the second half came from a player who started. Four minutes after the restart, Ronald Donkor carried the ball through midfield on a fast break and slid a pass into Cowell, who finished from the center of the box. The Red Bulls said it was Cowell's first goal for the club, and it turned a frustrating afternoon for Chicago into a very long one.

The Fire responded immediately and almost got back into it. Cuypers had a header blocked from the left side of the six-yard box in the 51st minute, and a minute later Haile-Selassie hit the bar with a header off an Anton Salétros delivery. Horvath saved a Cuypers shot in the 58th, and Zinckernagel had another effort blocked a minute after that.

Bradley took off Forsberg for Gustav Berggren in the 60th, and Berhalter answered by sending on Puso Dithejane for Jonathan Bamba. The Red Bulls nearly found a third off a corner in the 71st, when Dylan Nealis had a header blocked and then teed up Berggren, who shot just wide from the center of the box.

VAR, a Penalty and a Late Consolation

The third goal arrived via the monitor. In the 75th minute, Mehmeti drew a foul from Brady inside the box, and after what Chicago called a lengthy review, New York had a penalty. Choupo-Moting stepped up in the 81st and sent a right-footed penalty into the bottom left corner. Ruvalcaba and Haile-Selassie were both booked in the same minute.

Cuypers made sure the Fire did not leave empty-handed in the box score. In the 87th minute, Dithejane's shot was blocked, and Cuypers pounced on the loose ball and volleyed it in from the center of the box, per Chicago. Eight minutes of stoppage time followed, and Omar Valencia picked up a yellow card for New York, but the Fire never got closer.

Star Watch

Cowell was the sharpest attacker on the field, putting both of his shots on target and scoring once. Donkor, who set up the second goal, has four goal contributions in his last four MLS matches, according to the Red Bulls. Forsberg's assist on the opener made him the seventh player in franchise history to record 20-plus MLS goals and 20-plus MLS assists in a Red Bulls career, the club said.

Choupo-Moting's penalty was his second MLS goal of the season and the 19th of his MLS career, per the Red Bulls. Horvath made two saves, and New York made 27 clearances to Chicago's 15.

For Chicago, Cuypers again found the net. The Fire said it was his 11th goal of the season. Haile-Selassie made his 100th regular-season appearance for the club, becoming the 24th player in Fire history to reach the century mark, and he was unlucky not to mark it with a goal.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Chicago 63.6 percent, New York 36.4 percent.
• Shots: Chicago 15, New York 9. Both teams put four on target.
• Finishing: New York scored on three of its four shots on goal.
• Passing: Chicago completed 486 of 577 passes; New York completed 249 of 329.
• Interceptions: New York 14, Chicago 6.

What It Means

The Red Bulls move to 4-3-5 with 15 points. The win ends a five-match league winless run, two draws and three losses since a 4-2 home win over FC Cincinnati on April 4, and it came after back-to-back 2-0 defeats to Cincinnati and FC Dallas. New York now returns home for a two-match homestand, starting with the Columbus Crew on Wednesday, May 13.

Chicago falls to 5-2-4 with 17 points and has lost back-to-back home games, after falling 3-2 to Cincinnati a week earlier. The Fire head out on the road for two matches, first at D.C. United on Wednesday, May 13, and then at CF Montréal on Saturday, May 16.

Closing Take

Chicago did a lot of things that usually win soccer games: more of the ball, more passes, more shots, more pressure in the box. New York did the one thing that actually decides them. There is a lesson in that for the Fire, who will feel they deserved more than a single goal from a spell in which they hit the bar and forced Horvath into saves.

For the Red Bulls, the takeaway is simpler. A team that had not won in five found three goals, a first for Cowell and an away win in a game where the hosts had most of the ball. It was not pretty, but it was exactly what they needed.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Match notes as reported by the New York Red Bulls (newyorkredbulls.com) and Chicago Fire FC (chicagofirefc.com); neither club's recap carried postgame quotes.