Rather quietly, Chicago Fire FC have won four of their last seven games and moved within three points of the Eastern Conference’s Audi MLS Cup Playoffs line – at least before Sunday’s seven-game slate concludes Week 21.
Their 4W-3L-0D stretch includes a 1-0 win over the East-leading Philadelphia Union and on Saturday night, a 1-0 victory over the Concacaf Champions League-winning Seattle Sounders.
Head coach Ezra Hendrickson believes the 12th-place Fire can keep climbing a jam-packed table.
“Now we're there, within striking distance,” the first-year boss said. “Once we get over that line, which I think we will, we just have to maintain this type of performance. Stick within the game plan and we'll be fine, we'll be successful. And they believe in that. They believe when we talk to them and when we tell them, and they believe in what it is that we're doing.”
Consistency is the next step for Chicago, who last weekend lost 3-2 to the Columbus Crew after allowing three unanswered second-half goals. It was a deflating result that could have seriously derailed the club, but they dug deep and found a response.
“I think it's just that we are fighters,” homegrown goalkeeper Gaga Slonina said of the turnaround. “We didn't want our season to be over. So I think that coming and losing 3-2 versus Columbus at home, that hurt a lot. It meant a lot, but we added it as fuel to our fire. We didn’t sit back and let it hurt us. We used it as an advantage, so I think that's how we bounced back.”
Slonina, who’s generated transfer interest from Chelsea and Real Madrid, now has nine shutouts on the year. And he added the win over Seattle “shows we can play with one of the top teams in the league.”
The result also followed a 2-0 win over struggling Toronto FC midweek, which earned striker Jhon Duran MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire honors for scoring twice. Now, Chicago have their first two-game winning streak since the 2022 season’s first two rounds.
“I think these two wins are huge for us,” said center back Rafael Czichos, whose 23rd-minute header was the difference against Seattle. “We are back in the middle of the table and still have a chance to get what we want at the end of this season.”
That aim, of course, is an Audi MLS Cup Playoffs return. The Fire made the postseason once from 2013-21 (last qualified in 2017) and Hendrickson believes improved road form alongside continued Soldier Field results could be the difference. They've won one of 10 road games this year (1W-7L-2D), compared to five of 11 at home (5W-3L-3D).
Chicago return to action next Saturday when visiting Vancouver Whitecaps FC (10 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+).
“We have to be a team that's gonna have to go on the road and win,” Hendrickson said. “We showed that we could do it in D.C., but we have to do it once, maybe a couple more times this year, if we want to get to where we want to be, and that's in the playoffs.
“You know, once the regular season is done, we want to be one of the teams that's still playing. And now we put ourselves in a position, based on what happened tonight with other teams that we’re just three, maybe four points off that line. Within two games, you could be there. Once we get there though, we have to stay there.”
