In front of a record-breaking crowd of 62,124, the Chicago Fire put on a show as Xherdan Shaqiri and Maren Haile-Selassie each scored a brace in a 4-1 win over Inter Miami.
One of the talking points heading into the match was whether or not Lionel Messi would play. The Argentinian superstar missed another game and the Fire took full advantage of his absence.
The Fire were the better team in the first half and had the better goal scoring opportunities with Georgios Koutsias hitting the post in the 38th minute.
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While Miami’s #10 was missing in action, the Fire’s #10 made his presence known as four minutes into the second half, Xherdan Shaqiri broke the deadlock. Shaqiri finished off a nice team goal from Chicago with Fabian Herbers delivering the final cross, leaving Shaqiri alone in front of goal.
That joy wouldn’t last long as Inter Miami were awarded a penalty in the 52nd minute after Jonathan Dean fell in an effort to clear. In his attempt to block the ensuing shot, the ball struck his elbow for a clear cut penalty. Josef Martinez took the penalty and converted.
Following the equalizer, Inter Miami were on the front foot and had two opportunities to take the lead. Martinez played Facundo Farias and Benjamin Cremaschi in the 58th and 59th minute only for them to miss, much to the relief of the Fire.
Maren Haile-Selassie would make Inter Miami regret not putting their chances away as he managed to steal the ball from Robert Taylor. His first shot was blocked but it landed to Herbers who then played Haile-Selassie through to give the Fire the lead.
It only took Haile-Selassie four minutes to then get his brace after the Fire passed the ball from left to right. Ousmane Doumbia ended up on the right of the attack, spotted Haile-Selassie on the left and sent in a cross bypassing the Miami defenders for the Swiss to slot home.
Shaqiri put the final exclamation point on the match as he got his brace in the 73rd minute. Gaston Gimenez fought and recovered the ball in midfield. He laid it off to Shaqiri who struck from long-distance, leaving the goalie with no chance of stopping it.
The win was an important one for the Fire as in their chase for a playoff spot. With Inter Miami being a direct rival, they knew they needed a win.
“We knew it was going to be a key game for us and we wanted to get closer to those final two playoff spots,” said Fire left-back Miguel Navarro. “We had to play like it was a final and that’s how we played it.”
The Fire picked up their second win in a row and, more importantly, moved up to eighth in the Eastern Conference standings – two points ahead of Montreal and New York City FC.