February 28, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Fire forward Jonathan Bamba (19) reacts after scoring a goal in the first half against CF Montreal at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-Imagn Image The host Chicago Fire scored twice in extra time to secure a 3-0 victory over CF Montreal on Saturday.
Jonathan Bamba, Hugo Kuipers and Robin Rhodes scored for the Fire (1-1-0, 3 points), who earned their first win of the season in their home opener.
Montreal (0-2-0, 0 points) recorded two consecutive draws to open the 2026 season and took an 8-0 lead.
Both sides struggled to create much in the first 12 minutes, but the home side held a decisive advantage with 70% of their touches.
Bamba gave Chicago a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute of the first half. Maren Haile-Selassie, on the right flank inside the box, drew goalkeeper Thomas Gillier towards her and sent a cross to Bamba at the back post, where the forward easily scored into an open net.
Montreal almost gave up another opportunity 10 seconds into the second half. Haile-Selassie was just outside the right edge of the goal area, but the midfielder failed to get all his shots on target for a good chance.
After playing its man short in a 5-0 loss to San Diego a week ago, Montreal took advantage of its man starting in the 56th minute. After a video review, Fire defender Jonathan Dean was shown a red card for denying Hennadii Synchuk a goal-scoring opportunity when he tugged the midfielder’s jersey outside the box.
Montreal struggled to sustain offense despite the man advantage, and the game swung away from the visitors in second-half stoppage time.
Cuypers were awarded a penalty after Gillier came off his line to deny the Belgian a chance, tripping him in the process. Four minutes into the second half of extra time, the Cupers beat Gillier to the right as the goalkeeper dove to the left to make it 2-0.
Rhodes buried a rebound from the left side in the 10th minute of extra time in the second half to go up 3-0.
–Field level media
