ATLANTA (July 16, 2025) – Chicago Fire FC (8-9-5, 29 points) earned a 2-2 draw against Atlanta United FC (4-10-8, 20 points) Wednesday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Winger Philip Zinckernagel tallied his 10th goal of the regular season while also adding his ninth assist on midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie’s second of the campaign.
Zinckernagel put the Fire in the lead just seconds into the match. After forcing a save from goalkeeper Brad Guzan, the Danish winger took the ensuing corner kick. His low line drive skipped into the six, through various legs and into the goal for the shocking 1-0 visiting lead.
Atlanta returned from the halftime break looking for the equalizer. In the 56th minute, midfielder Bartosz Slisz won the ball back in his side, sparking a counter that forward Miguel Almirón set up for Alexey Miranchuk, whose low shot tucked into the far post for the 1-1 draw.
Chicago regained possession in the 79th minute, and after a series of touches around the Atlanta half, Zinckernagel found Andrew Gutman out on the left wing. The left back passed to Haile-Selassie, who dribbled through the box before ripping a clean shot for the second Fire lead of the night.
The visitors held through much of stoppage time, but Atlanta earned a corner kick in the fourth minute of stoppage time. After a deflection, midfielder Will Reilly crashed into the six-yard box to equalize once more and save the Five Stripes from their fourth home loss of the season.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago closes a two-game road trip against CF Montréal at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, July 19, at Stade Saputo. The match will kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and transmitted locally on wlsam.com (English) and Que Buena Fire via the Uforia App (Spanish).
Notes:
- Philip Zinckernagel tallied his 10th goal of the season to kick off the match against Atlanta. The goal marked the first time that Chicago had two players score a minimum of 10 goals in a single season since 2019, when CJ Sapong and Nemanja Nikolic scored 13 and 12, respectively.
- With his second-minute goal, Zinckernagel registered a goal contribution for the ninth consecutive road match, only one game short of the Major League Soccer record held by Atlanta’s Josef Martînez in 2019. He would later add his ninth assist of the season, giving him 19 goal contributions for the year – good for eighth most by a Fire player in a single season.
- Maren Haile-Selassie tallied his second goal of the regular season to give the Fire a momentary lead in the 79th minute. The Swiss midfielder last tallied the opener in Chicago’s 7-1 romp over D.C. United on June 7. He also currently owns a career-high four assists this season.
- Defender Andrew Gutman recorded his eighth assist of the season in Maren Haile-Selassie’s 79th minute goal. With two goals and eight assists, Gutman set a career high in goal contributions in a single season with 10.
- Chicago Fire FC earned its first point in Atlanta in eight regular season matches on Wednesday night. The Men in Red have only won once at Mercedes-Benz Stadium: a 1-0 victory on June 20, 2018 in the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16.
- Defenders Carlos Terán (Lower Body), Justin Reynolds (Head) and Christopher Cupps (Lower Body); and midfielders Chris Mueller (Not Due to Injury) and David Poreba (Lower Body) were unavailable for selection.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Box Score:
Atlanta United FC 2:2 Chicago Fire FC
Goals:
CHI - Zinckernagel (10) (WATCH) 2’
ATL - Miranchuk (3) (Almirón 4) (WATCH) 56’
CHI - Haile-Selassie (2) (Gutman 8) (WATCH) 79’
ATL - Reilly (1) (WATCH) 90+4’
Discipline:
CHI - Oregel Jr. (Yellow Card) 28’
ATL - Amador (Yellow Card) 31’
CHI - D’Avilla (Yellow Card) 35’
ATL - Slisz (Yellow Card) 83’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Dean, D Rogers, D Elliott (capt.), D Gutman, D D’Avilla (Pineda, 81’), D Oregel Jr. (Kouamé, 67’), D Gutiérrez, D Zinckernagel (Barroso, 89’), D Cuypers (Barlow, 89’), D Bamba (Haile-Selassie, 67’)
Subs not used: GK Gal, D González, M Acosta, M Glasgow
Atlanta United FC: GK Guzan, D Lennon (Edwards, 87’), D Morales, D Abram (Togashi, 87’), D Amador, M Muyumba (Reilly, 71’), M Miranchuk, M Slisz, F Lobjanidze (Brennan, 71’), F Latte Lath (Thiaré, 71’), F Almirón (capt.)
Subs not used: GK Hibbert, D Hernandez, D Cobb, M Klich
Stats Summary: ATL / CHI
Shots: 10 / 14
Shots on Goal: 4 / 9
Saves: 7 / 2
Passing Accuracy: 87.3% / 88.5%
Corners: 3 / 4
Fouls: 11 / 6
Offsides: 2 / 2
Possession: 53.3% / 46.7%
Attendance: 38,882
Referee: Sergii Demianchuk
Assistant Referees: Logan Brown, Andrew Bigelow
Fourth Official: Marcos DeOliveira II
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero
AVAR: Brian Dunn
