RECAP: Brady, Fire Shutout Messi & Friends In Front of Historic Crowd, 0-0
Pre-match festivities, live music, fireworks, celebrities, dirty tackles, shots off posts, yellow cards, diving saves, box-to-box attacking, Busquets, Gutierrez, Suarez, Cuypers, MESSI, and 65,000+ roaring fans in a packed Soldier Field.
Fire v Inter Miami had it all except… a goal? Despite the final score ending in a 0-0 draw, the hype leading up to this match lived up to all the media coverage from the past few weeks. After two straight seasons of Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi missing out on the fixture between Chicago and Inter Miami due to injuries, the third time was a charm. Messi finally played against the Fire, and boy oh boy did the matchup not disappoint. Methodical, patient, and odd? A chess-like match was on display between head coaches Gregg Berhalter and Javier Mascherano, as both teams came in with a well-planned approach to the game. Calculated decisions, moving patterns, spatial linkage, and all of a sudden, urgent attacks for most of the 90 minutes were what fans in attendance witnessed. Odd though, because with all the talent and all the superstars on the pitch, one would think somebody would find the back of the net in this thrilling matchup. Even then, this may have been the most exciting Fire home match since last season when Kellyn Acosta scored a 90th-minute game-winner from half field with a little help from the gusty Lake Michigan winds. So what exactly happened during the 90 on Sunday?
The first 25 minutes were dead even, with the Fire and Inter Miami sharing possession of the ball and having a couple of early looks on goal.
Of course, Lionel Messi got things started early on when he found a loose ball at the top of the 18 and ripped a shot on goal, forcing GK Chris Brady to make an impressive save toward his left. Messi’s shot certainly caused a reaction from the crowd. From then on, fans did not let up for the entire match.
65,000+ cheered on the men in red, even if a few more fans than usual were sporting the opposing team’s colors.
PHOTO: Talia Sprague/Imagn Images
The Fire had a few chances of their own in the first half, but every promising shot they took (about 5 in the first 30) ended up being deflected by a Miami defender. The Chicago Fire almost opened the deadlock when Brian Gutierrez started a counter down the middle of the field and created a 2v1 opportunity with Hugo Cuypers to his left. Guti decided to go at it alone and lost his balance at the top of the box before getting a shot off. Luckily, Mauricio Pineda caught up to the play and took a one-time curler, forcing Miami GK Oscar Ustari to make a diving save to his left.
Throughout the match, a recurring theme emerged multiple times. It all started in the very first three minutes of the match when match referee Jon Freemon issued a very early yellow card to Mauricio Pineda. Dirty tackle? We’ve seen worse. Many viewers around the league have expressed similar concerns that match officials are overly protecting Inter Miami players and quickly issuing bookings to opposing teams for simple, common fouls.
Five yellow cards were shown to the Chicago Fire, despite the team committing only 12 fouls throughout the game; it’s a bit unheard of that almost every other foul results in a booking during a match.
It certainly caused the Fire to play a bit more cautiously when Sergio Oregel, Carlos Teran, Mauri Pineda, and Jack Elliott (defensive-end players) all received a yellow. Not an easy task at all when you have Lionel Messi dribbling right at you.. Ask Pineda what happened during the 13th minute of play.
Aside from Jordi Alba entering the match 15 minutes into the second half, not much had gone on at the restart of the game. As fans made their way back to their seats from longer-than-usual concession lines, Jack Elliott allegedly had committed a foul on Messi just at the top of the box. The crowd went wild because they knew exactly who was going to step up and take it. Messi grabbed the ball, placed it down just outside the 18, took a couple of steps back, and waited as he stared down Chris Brady. Soldier Field erupted into an in-sync “MESSI, MESSI” chant. Just before Messi stepped up to take it, Soldier Field went silent. Bang, Messi struck it going opposite post, trying to catch Brady cheating over to his right. Brady managed to get his fingertips to the ball, causing it to hit the crossbar and go out for a corner. Inter Miami were literally inches away from going up 1-0.
The more the match went on, the more one could see just how comfortable the midfield triangle of Pineda, Oregel, and Gutierrez had become over the course of the 90. From the buildup in possession to the quick counters and switches of play, it was refreshing to see the Fire play poised and with tons of confidence inside the lines. It’s certainly worth noting, too, that all three of these named midfield starters are homegrown players. I do not believe there is another MLS squad that has started three homegrown players together in their midfield this season, let alone five homegrown players in the starting XI. The craziest part is Guti being 21 years old and Oregel being 19. Let that sink in. Oh yeah, and their midfield battle was against none other than Sergio Busquets. No biggie.
During the post-match press conference, Berhalter took a moment to recognize and acknowledge just how well Omari Glasgow played at right back – a position Glasgow is normally not familiar with.
It’s not an easy task for a very young player in their first full season to quickly adapt. According to Sofa Score, Glasgow had one of the highest player ratings (7.5) amongst all players on the field Sunday for both teams and the highest on the Fire (tied with Brady.) Not bad at all for the 21 year old who hasn’t even had 300 minutes of MLS play in his career. With the amount of injuries the Fire are dealing with at the moment, Gregg Berhalter just may have found some new depth and quality for the backline.
Berhalter was asked a very general, but interesting question during his press conference after the match.
What does the club have to do to continue bringing in crowds like Sunday’s and continue creating the same kind of atmosphere that was felt all around that day?
“Win more.”
Berhalter went on to discuss how Chicago, as a city, would get more behind the Fire by simply winning and creating a culture that fans can connect with and follow. Gregg Berhalter came here a few months ago on a mission to build a winning team.
So far in this 2025 season, they appear to be headed in the right direction.
There’s a lot more to work on, but going toe-to-toe for a full 90 minutes against one of the best players in the world and one of the better teams in MLS certainly does prove positive progress, especially when the Fire may have been the slightly better side. Just don’t tell that to Messi fans.
The Numbers
Fire Inter Miami
xG 1.23 0.97
Possession % 47 53
Total Shots 16 10
GK Saves 3 7
Fouls 12 11
Yellow Cards 5 3
Big chances 5 2
Passes 449 523
*Numbers provided by Sofa Score
PHOTO: Talia Sprague/Imagn Images
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