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Fire is the favorite in this game and should win. Detroit City FC comes with a strong traveling contingent, looks like at least 200 fans traveled. Pretty impressive dedicated fan base. Didn’t take long for the Fire to make their mark on the game, Hugo Cuypers puts one in the back of the net in the first five minutes of the game. Fire lead 1-0, early. Good start.
The Fire are dominating possession, but not creating as many chances as they should be. A little luck never hurt anyone and that’s what happened for the Fire near the end of the first half when Maren Haile-Selassie’s corner gets knocked in by a Detroit City defender for an own goal. It’s 2-0 Fire.
At halftime the Fire are in commanding position. It will be interesting to see how long will some of the regular starters stay in the game. I wouldn’t keep Cuypers, Jonathan Bamba or Jack Elliott past the 60th minute. Ideally they get substituted at halftime or in the first 5 minutes of the second half to give the incoming subs some extra time to warm-up.
The starters remained and it paid-off when Omari Glasgow came through with a goal early into the start of the second half. Fire with a comfortable 3-0 lead. Glasgow scores his first goal for the Fire senior team. Minutes later Cuypers, Bamba and Elliott exit.
Fun moment as Bamba walks-off the field, the ball-boy runs up to him and Bamba gives the kid his shirt. Nice gesture by Bamba, pretty bold move on the kid, but hopefully this doesn’t cost him his gig!
Fire continue the attack and not letting up, which is a good sign they are pushing for more. Seems like they are creating more chances than they did in the first half. The second unit is playing aggressively and it pays off when Brian Gutierrez lays-off a nice pass to Haile-Selassie for an easy tip in goal and a 4-0 lead. Minutes prior Omari Glasgow had a chance to finish it but he similarly passed it off to Tom Barlow who ended up being offsides.
Haile-Selassie almost did it again. He had a breakaway and went past the goalie and tapped it into the back of the net, but it moments later it was ruled offsides. Haile-Selassie with a very good and active game.
Detroit City had little resistance all night, the Fire took advantage of it. Nice win for Chicago who will move forward in the U.S. Open Cup. Detroit will go back home. Could this be a momentum changing win for the Fire? It is inferior non-MLS competition, but it must be nice to get the job done and celebrate something after a month plus of no wins.
NEXT MATCH:
Chicago Fire returns to the lakefront to face Eastern Conference foe Atlanta United on Saturday, May 10 at Soldier Field. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. CT and the match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Notes:
- Omari Glasgow tallied his first goal across all competitions for Chicago Fire FC’s first team. The Guyanese winger played a full 90 minutes as a right back, contributing immensely to the attack. Glasgow is no stranger to scoring at SeatGeek Stadium, however, tallying 15 goals across three seasons for Chicago Fire II, many of them at the Bridgeview stadium.
- Maren Haile-Selassie’s first goal in all competitions across 2025 was his second all-time in the Open Cup. The Swiss midfielder tallied his first only three minutes into a Round of 32 match against St. Louis CITY SC on May 9, 2023.
- Hugo Cuypers, the current Major League Soccer co-leader in goals scored, opened his U.S. Open Cup account with Chicago’s opening goal in the fourth minute. The goal made it 18 across all competitions for Cuypers in two seasons with Chicago.
- Dje D’Avilla started in his first match with Chicago this season, playing 90 minutes of football and earning praise from his teammates for his play in the central midfield. He paired up well with Rominigue Kouamé in the center of the pitch, who contributed to Glasgow’s goal in his 67 minutes of play.
