Nashville SC defeats Chicago Fire FC at home

Nashville TN, Saturday, April 26, 2025

Chicago Fire FC endured a heavy 7-2 defeat against Nashville SC on Saturday night at GEODIS Park. Despite the loss, there were some individual highlights for Chicago: Philip Zinckernagel scored his third goal of the season and added an assist, while Hugo Cuypers notched his seventh goal, keeping him tied for the league lead in the Golden Boot race. The match also marked a milestone for defender Christopher Cupps, who made his MLS debut, coming on as a substitute in the 76th minute.

Nashville SC took control early, opening the scoring with a penalty from Sam Surridge in the 15th minute. They quickly piled on more goals, with Jeisson Palacios, Hany Mukhtar, and Surridge again all finding the net before halftime, putting Nashville up 5-0. Mukhtar and Surridge each recorded a brace before the break, with Surridge eventually scoring four goals in total, completing his hat trick and adding a fourth just 12 minutes into the second half.

Chicago managed to show some fight later in the match, with Zinckernagel converting a well-taken free kick in the 64th minute and then assisting Cuypers for a goal in the 71st. However, the damage had already been done by Nashville’s dominant performance, and the Fire left Tennessee with their fourth loss of the season, while Nashville improved their record with an emphatic home victory.

Goals:

NSH – Surridge (Penalty) 15’

NSH – Palacios  22’

NSH – Mukhtar   25’

NSH – Mukhtar   31’

NSH – Surridge  (Penalty)  45+9’

NSH – Surridge   50’

NSH – Surridge 57’

CHI – Zinckernagel 64’

CHI – Cuypers  71’

Discipline:

CHI – D’Avilla (Yellow Card) 42’

CHI – Brady (Yellow Card) 45+7’

CHI – Zinckernagel (Yellow Card) 51’

CHI – Elliott (Yellow Card) 65’

Stadium: GEODIS Park

Location:  Nashville, TN

Attendance:  24,771

Referee: Rosendo Mendoza

Assistant Referees: Walt Heatherly, Diego Blas

Fourth Official: Nabil Bensalah

VAR: Michael Radchuk

AVAR: Tom Felice