The Chicago Fire came into Subaru Park on Saturday evening on a five-match unbeaten run that included wins over Charlotte, Vancouver, Seattle, and Toronto. Their scorching hot form was living up to their name. However, the Union were bound and determined not to let Chicago extend their streak of unbeaten matches – especially after they were beaten 1-0 by Chicago in the reverse fixture on June 29.
Early on, however, it looked like Chicago may jump on the Union just like they did at Soldier Field. In the early moments of the match, Fire midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri was fluid in his movement all over the pitch, especially on his favored left flank alongside forward Chris Mueller.