Chicago Fire FC Drops Road Match at Nashville SC
April 26, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Chicago Fire FC News Release
Chicago Fire FC battles Nashville SC
(Chicago Fire FC)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Chicago Fire FC (3-4-3, 12 points) fell 7-2 at Nashville SC (5-4-1, 16 points) Saturday night at GEODIS Park.
Philip Zinckernagel scored his third goal of the season for the Fire, and Hugo Cuypers remains tied for first place in the Golden Boot race after scoring his seventh goal of the season. Homegrown defender Christopher Cupps replaced Sam Rogers in the 76th minute to make his Major League Soccer debut.
Nashville took the lead after winning a penalty kick at the quarter hour mark that Sam Surridge scored. Seven minutes later, the home side doubled the lead as Jeisson Palacios headed home a corner kick from Hany Mukhtar. The German midfielder quickly added to his career tally against Chicago just three minutes later, getting on the end of a long counter attack that he initiated, before completing a brace in the 31st minute to make it 4-0 for Nashville.
Surridge completed a brace of his own shortly before the half, slotting home another penalty kick to make it 5-0. He made it a hat trick five minutes after the break, then four in the 57th minute.
Zinckernagel struck back on a free kick in the 64th minute, bending a ball into the upper 90 on a set piece. The Danish winger then provided an assist on Cuypers' league-leading seventh goal of the year in the 71st minute, wrapping up the scoring for the night.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago opens a two-game homestand with a Saturday night matchup against Orlando City SC on May 3. Kickoff at Soldier Field is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT and the match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, and transmitted locally on wlsam.com (English), and Que Buena 105.1 via the Uforia app (Spanish).
Notes:
Forward Hugo Cuypers tallied his seventh goal of the season late in the second half of the match. The goal tied Cuypers with Philadelphia's Tai Baribo for the league lead in goals scored this season, the first time a Fire player has led the league in scoring since Brian Gutiérrez did after Matchday 1 this season.
Homegrown defender Christopher Cupps made his Major League Soccer debut Saturday night, checking in for fellow center back Sam Rogers in the 76th minute. Cupps would play 14 minutes of clean defensive football, not allowing any goals in his stint.
Philip Zinckernagel recorded his second match of the season with two goal contributions after tallying once and adding his fourth assist of the year. This is the first time Zinckernagel gets a goal and an assist in the same match since the March 22 victory at Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Defenders Leonardo Barroso (Lower Body), Carlos Terán (Lower Body) and Chase Gasper (Lower Body); and midfielders Rominigue Kouamé (Lower Body), David Poreba (Lower Body) and Chris Mueller (Not Due to Injury) were not available for selection tonight.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Box Score:
Nashville SC 7:2 Chicago Fire FC
Goals:
NSH - Surridge (3) (Penalty) (WATCH) 15'
NSH - Palacios (1) (Mukhtar 3) (WATCH) 22'
NSH - Mukhtar (3) (WATCH) 25'
NSH - Mukhtar (4) (Najar 1) (WATCH) 31'
NSH - Surridge (4) (Penalty) (WATCH) 45+9'
NSH - Surridge (5) (Najar 2) (WATCH) 50'
NSH - Surridge (6) (Najar 3) (WATCH) 57'
CHI - Zinckernagel (3) (Haile-Selassie 1) (WATCH) 64'
CHI - Cuypers (7) (Elliott 2, Zinckernagel 4) (WATCH) 71'
Discipline:
CHI - D'Avilla (Yellow Card) 42'
CHI - Brady (Yellow Card) 45+7'
CHI - Zinckernagel (Yellow Card) 51'
CHI - Elliott (Yellow Card) 65'
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Glasgow, D Rogers (Cupps, 76'), D Elliott, D Gutman (Dean, 37'), M Acosta (capt.), M Pineda (D'Avilla, 37'), M Gutiérrez, F Zinckernagel, F Cuypers, F Bamba
Subs not used: GK Gal, D González, D Reynolds, M Haile-Selassie, M Oregel, Jr., F Barlow
Nashville SC: GK Willis, D Najar, D Maher, D Palacios (Applewhite, 86'), D Lovitz, M Yazbek, M Tagseth (Brugman, 60'), M Muyl (Qasem, 73'), F Mukhtar (capt.), F Surridge (Bunbury, 73'), F Shaffelburg (Pérez, 73')
Subs not used: GK Schwake, D Bauer, M Acosta, M Washington
Stats Summary: NSH / CHI
Shots: 18 / 9
Shots on Goal: 12 / 6
Saves: 4 / 5
Passing Accuracy: 87.6% / 82.4%
Corners: 4 / 1
Fouls: 12 / 13
Offsides: 4 / 1
Possession: 58.9% / 41.1%
Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
Assistant Referees: Walt Heatherly, Diego Blas
Fourth Official: Nabil Bensalah
VAR: Michael Radchuk
AVAR: Tom Felice
Images from this story
 Chicago Fire FC battles Nashville SC |
• Discuss this story on the Major League Soccer message board...
Major League Soccer Stories from April 26, 2025
- Nashville Soccer Club Records Historic 7-2 Win Over Chicago Fire FC - Nashville SC
- Houston Dynamo FC Defeat Austin FC 2-0 in Texas Showdown - Houston Dynamo FC
- San Diego FC Falls 3-1 to Real Salt Lake in First Loss at Snapdragon Stadium - San Diego FC
- Chicago Fire FC Drops Road Match at Nashville SC - Chicago Fire FC
- Revolution Top Eastern Conference Leader Charlotte FC, 1-0 - New England Revolution
- Luna Sensational as Two-Goal Performance Inspires RSL in 3-1 Win at San Diego - Real Salt Lake
- Atlanta United Drops Away Match at Orlando City SC - Atlanta United FC
- San Jose Go Toe-To-Toe With Crew For 90 Minutes But Quest For Late Equalizer Falls Short - San Jose Earthquakes
- Clip Notes: Charlotte FC Suffer First Loss at Home in Fiery Match - Charlotte FC
- Red Bulls Defeat CF Montréal 1-0 at Sports Illustrated Stadium - New York Red Bulls
- New York Red Bulls Top CF Montréal, 1-0 - Club de Foot Montreal
- D.C. United Lose 3-0 against the Philadelphia Union on the Road - D.C. United
- Union improves to second place in the Eastern Conference; Remain unbeaten at home against D.C. United since 2015 - Philadelphia Union
- Sporting KC Falls 2-1 at FC Cincinnati - Sporting Kansas City
- Toronto FC (0) - New York City FC (1) Postgame Summary - Toronto FC
- Minnesota United FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC Preview - Minnesota United FC
- Alonso Martínez Penalty the Difference in Win over Toronto FC - New York City FC
- Colorado Rapids Call up Zackory Campagnolo on Short-Term Agreement Ahead of Match against Seattle Sounders FC - Colorado Rapids
- Earthquakes Face Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field Today at 4:30 p.m. PT - San Jose Earthquakes
- Sounders FC Faces the Colorado Rapids Saturday Night at Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Seattle Sounders FC
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
