Chicago Fire backup goalie Jeff Gal had one night to sleep on the fact that he would be starting Saturday’s win-or-go-home game against the Philadelphia Union.
Starting goalie Chris Brady came down with a lower leg injury Friday, leaving the Bartlett native Gal to start the second game of the best-of-three, first-round MLS Cup playoff series with the season on the line.
The Union did what any good team would do: put pressure on Gal early and often. It resulted in a 3-0 win, advancing Philadelphia to the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Fire’s most successful season since 2017 came to a close in front of 17.431 fans at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview.
Gal turned the ball over trying to clear it out of the box in the 8th minute, and Union leading scorer Tai Baribo stole it and punched it into the empty net for a quick 1-0 lead.
Baribo struck again in the 16th minute. This time, a defensive turnover led to a cross from Kai Wagner that Baribo headed in to make it 2-0 Union. The brace from Baribo gave him a team-best 18 goals on the season.
The Fire had hope in the 32nd minute, however. Philip Zinckernagel, who returned after missing the penalty-kick shootout loss in Game 1 with an injury, had a corner kick. On the shot attempt, the Fire were awarded a penalty kick, which could have potentially cut the lead in half. Instead, Brian Gutierrez’s shot to the lower right corner was saved by the Union’s Andre Blake to keep the score 2-0.
Shortly thereafter, Gal had another clearing attempt blocked, and Bruno Damiani was there to clean it up to give the Union an insurmountable 3-0 lead. Milan Iloski was credited with the assist.
Gutierrez appeared to get the Fire on the board in the second half. In the 51st minute, Blake tried to clear a ball out of the box and Gutierrez blocked it right into the net. But the Fire midfielder was called for a foul and the goal was waved off.
Philadelphia managed to stymie the highest-scoring Fire team in club history. The Fire managed only nine shots in the match and only two shots on goal.
Despite the loss, first-year Fire coach Gregg Berhalter started to see his vision for the club come to fruition quickly.
He guided the Fire back to the postseason for the first time since 2017. Their wild-card win over Orlando City was the first playoff win for the club since 2009.
“I think, first of all, it shows where this group has come to, the progress this group has made, the team has made, both on an individual level and collective level,” Berhalter said Thursday. “We’ve made a ton of progress, and that is good to see.”
In addition to the progress on the field, Berhalter has seen the momentum build around the city. Between the playoff appearance and the plans for a new stadium in the South Loop, the former U.S. men’s national team coach sees what the Fire can become.
“We’ve seen the excitement around the city,” Berhalter said. “I’ve mentioned this before, of the Chicago Fire being a sleeping giant, and I really believe that. We see people around the streets asking us about the game. There’s a lot more attention; tickets are selling a lot quicker than before, and that needs to be the standard.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/01/chicago-fire-season-over/
