A wind-assisted wonder-goal from beyond the halfway line in the last minute of play allowed the Chicago Fire to storm back for a 4-3 home victory in its Major League Soccer (MLS) clash against CF Montréal on Saturday.
Chicago had it all to do after Dominic Iankov extended the visiting side’s lead to 3-1 in the 70th minute but was offered a route back into the game when Montréal substitute Raheem Edwards received a straight red card after an infraction inside the penalty area.
Brian Gutiérrez converted the resulting spot-kick 84 minutes into the game to halve the deficit before Hugo Cuypers leveled the score at 3-3 in the fifth of nine additional minutes to stun Montréal.
The drama was far from over, however, as Chicago, not content with tying things up, went in search of a winner deep into stoppage time. With under a minute to go, it appeared that the home team’s efforts would be in vain as Kellyn Acosta picked up the ball inside his own half.
With the Fire committing players up the pitch, the American midfielder hoisted the ball forward hoping for a miracle and the wind in the Windy City seemed to oblige. The Montréal defense could only watch in horror as Acosta’s effort – intended as a pass – swerved in the air and looped over goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois to give Chicago the unlikeliest of wins in the 90+9th minute.
“That was pretty epic, pretty crazy,” Acosta said after the game. “The match had a bit of everything I would say but it was a good result so we’ll take it.”
The 28-year-old admitted that his remarkable game-winning strike was unintentional.
“For me it was just about getting the ball in the mixed zone basically and create some things,” he explained. “I had some balls that I found in the back post and if I’m being fully transparent that’s what I tried to do again.
“This time though I had some St. Patrick’s Day luck, the wind was able to take it and for me it was one of those things that when it left my foot I was almost upset with myself like ‘Dang I kind of blew an opportunity.’ Then I realized ‘this might have a chance.’
“He came out, it went over his head, and the rest was history.”
Acosta’s goal, his first for the club after joining as a free agent in February, was the latest game-winning finish during regulation time of a Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season match, per the Fire.
Chicago also became the first team in MLS history to score both a game-tying and game-winning goal in the 95th minute or later, as well as the first team in MLS history to win a match in regulation after scoring two-or-more-goals in the 84th minute or later.
A comeback of these proportions has rarely been seen in the Windy City – the last time the Fire overturned a two-goal deficit to win was against the Colorado Rapids in August 2009, according to the team.
The result saw Chicago enter the win column for the first time this season, while Montréal picked up its first defeat of the current campaign.
