The Chicago Fire advanced to the next round of the Leagues Cup following a 1-1 draw against Liga MX side Puebla at SeatGeek Stadium.
Xherdan Shaqiri scored the equalizer in the 79th minute when his free kick took a deflection off a Puebla player and trickled to the back of the net.
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The Fire went down in the 74th minute when Brayan Angulo thundered in a shot from just outside the penalty area. The goal came off a poorly attempted backheel clearance from Brian Gutierrez, giving the ball away to Angulo who didn’t think twice before taking advantage of an opportunity.
The break in the game for the Fire came only moments before Shaqiri’s equalizer when Carlos Baltazar was shown a red card after stepping on Shaqiri’s ankle. The resulting equalizer then came off the ensuing free kick.
Fire head coach Frank Klopas sent out a bit of a rotated side, opting to leave the aforementioned Gutierrez and Rafael Czichos on the bench. Gutierrez was a significant miss as Chicago looked a much more dangerous team when he entered the game in the second half.
Since the game ended in a draw, Leagues Cup rules stated the game would go to penalty kicks with the winner awarded an extra point. The equivalent of batting around occurred in the shootout with both goalkeepers taking one and converting. Puebla won the shootout and picked up two points after Czichos’ attempt hit the crossbar.
Regardless, the Fire finished with four points to top group E.
The Fire’s next opponent in the Leagues Cup round of 32 will be none other than one of Mexico’s most storied teams in Club America.