It was the 95th minute of a close game on a freezing winter night inside the confines of Solder Field of Chicago, Ill on Saturday night, as D.C. United were looking to get a late equalizer late in the game. After several failed attempts to tie the game, it all came down to one last corner kick.
The corner kick taken by left back Aaron Herrera was cleared out by the Chicago Fire defense, however the ball landed at the feet of Matti Peltola, who dished out the ball to the flank back to Herrera, who sent a cross into the box, which found second year forward Jacob Murrell. Murrell who stretched out to win the ball with a bicycle kick was able to connect with the ball and put into the left-hand side of the net out of the reach of Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady. D.C. was able to pull a late 2-2 draw on the road.
“Last minute, we needed something. We needed anything,” said Murrell. “Just throw up the hope, and hope it goes in. I go for it, and it comes off exactly how I wanted it to.”
Murrell had entered the game in the second half in place of Jarred Stroud. Murrell has impressed D.C. head coach Troy Lesesne with his performances in his first two games had this to say about his performances to start the season.
“He starts last week and gets an assist,” Lesesne said. “He knows his role [Saturday] is to come into this match. He doesn’t complain about it. He goes in and he makes it a big, big moment for the club in terms of gaining a point, which we know, at the end of the year, could be a big one.”
The Game
Before kickoff the Fire had to make a last second change to their starting eleven, after center back Carlos Teran became a late scratch due to injury and was replaced by Sam Rodgers who would make his MLS debut in this match.
D.C. would open up the scoring in the 3rd minute. After a series of short passes in their own back field, the ball would find David Schnegg, who played a long ball to Gabriel Pirani, who beat Jack Elliot to the ball and overlapped his run with Christian Benteke causing confusion in the Fire backline. Pirani played a short pass to Benteke inside the box and the Belgian strikers took a one time shot that went past Brady and into the back of the net for his second goal of the season.
Chicago would equalize in the 30th minute, after a Phillip Zinckernagel found Hugo Cuypers who crept in to the six yard box beating the mark of Brandon Servania in the far left post, heading the ball into D.C. goalkeeper Kim Joon Hong and into the back of the net to tie the game. Cuypers had a similar opportunity two minutes before to get his name on the score sheet, however his shot hit the crossbar denying him of a goal scoring opportunity.
Cuypers would score his second goal of the game in the 70th minute. The goal would come off another Zinckernagel corner kick. The set piece would find Jack Elliot who would bear Lucas Bartlett in the air and flick the ball towards the far post, finding Cuypers who would get his foot up to make contact with the ball, colliding with the post in the process to give Chicago the lead in the later stages of the game.
D.C. would be awarded a penalty late in the game after Rodgers punched the ball in the air and the referee awarded the penalty to D.C. It would be Benteke who would step in to take the penalty. However, his spot kick would go over the bar into the stands.
“The thing that I’m happiest the most with is seeing our group continue to push the game,” Lesesne said. “Down 2-1, continue to push the game. Get the penalty call, we miss the penalty, continue to push the game. And they fight to the end.”
With this result the Chicago Fire are currently sitting 13th in the Eastern Conference with 1 point, while D.C. sit in 8th in the Eastern Conference with 2 points.
Barajas joins D.C. United
This week D.C. United announced the signing on loan of 18-year-old forward Fidel Barajas from Liga MX side Chivas de Guadalajara with till June, with an option to extend the loan till December.
“Fidel is a promising young talent with a high-ceiling for development at only 18-years old,” Ally Mackay, D.C. United General Manager and Chief Soccer Officer, said. “He signed with Chivas in Mexico after showing his ability with Real Salt Lake in 2024. As a technically gifted player, Fidel can create chances with his vision, passing range, and dribbling. We’re excited to have him join the club and are looking forward to seeing how he fits in Troy Lesesne’s system.”
Barajas had signed with Chivas last July with the Mexican paying a $4 million fee to Real Salt Lake Barajas made five appearances for the Mexican outfit. Prior to that the San Jose Earthquakes product played for Salt Lake, making his MLS debut with RSL in 2024. Making 17 appearances recording two assists. He has represented both the United States and Mexico at youth level.
D.C. United's will return to Audi Field, as they take on Sporting Kansas City next Saturday March 8th. Kickoff is at 7:30 pm.
