Chicago Fire gets ‘windy-city’ assist for dramatic winner

Kellyn Acosta delivered a wind-aided, tie-breaking goal from midfield in the final moments of second-half stoppage time as the Chicago Fire scored twice after the 90-minute mark for a stunning 4-3 victory over visiting CF Montreal on Saturday.

Down 3-1, Chicago (1-2-1, 4 points) began its rally when Montreal sub and ex-Fire defender Raheem Edwards drew a red card for an apparent violent elbow in the 82nd minute, reducing his team to 10 men.

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Homegrown midfielder Brian Gutierrez converted from the penalty spot two minutes later for the Fire (1-2-1, 4 points), before Hugo Cuypers tied the score 3-3 with a strike through traffic in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Four minutes later, Acosta delivered his heroics as he appeared to be sending the ball forward from midfield. The bending ball was helped by a hefty lakefront wind and carried past the outstretched arms of Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.

The ball found the back of the net to set off a wild celebration on the field and in the stands.

The surreal finish overshadowed Montreal’s two successful first-half penalty kicks from Matias Coccaro. Dominik Yankov added a goal for Montreal, off a brilliant back-heel pass from Josef Martinez increasing the lead to 3-1 in the 70th minute.

Montreal (2-1-1, 7 points) caught an early break when video review determined Chicago’s Chase Gasper, on the backswing of his foot, made enough contact in the box on a chasing Coccaro to warrant a foul and the match’s first penalty kick.

Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady got a hand on Coccaro’s eighth-minute penalty strike, but not enough to keep it out of the net.

Four minutes later, Coccaro again earned a penalty when he was fouled from behind by the Fire’s Tobias Salquist. The Chicago defender drew yellow, and Coccaro then converted his second penalty attempt to stun the home supporters.

Chicago broke through on the cusp of halftime, by taking advantage of extended stoppage time. Maren Haile-Selassie got behind the Montreal back-line to receive a long send from Rafael Czichos, then sidewinded the ball past Sirois to give Chicago life entering the break.

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