Jacob Murrell scored on a bicycle kick in the sixth minute of stoppage time on Saturday night at Soldier Field to help D.C. United salvage a 2-2 tie with the Fire and spoil the second multi-goal game in MLS for the Fire’s Hugo Cuypers.
Aaron Herrera played in a corner kick that was cleared by the Fire but D.C. United retained possession. Matti Peltola passed the ball back to Herrera on the right wing, where he chipped a ball-in to Murrell for an arcing finish that slipped under the crossbar, but over the outstretch hand of goalkeeper Chris Brady, to make it 2-2.
Christian Benteke, the 2024 MLS Golden Boot with 23 goals, tapped in a one-touch shot — off a pass from Gabriel Pirani — from near the penalty spot to give D.C. United (0-0-2) a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute.
Philip Zinckernagel played in a corner kick that was headed at the near post to the back post by Jack Elliott before Cuypers slammed it home from point-blank range to make it 1-1 in the 30th minute. Then, in the 71st, deja vu struck. Cuypers again scored after Elliott flicked a header, off a corner kick to the front post by Zinckernagel, slipping a one-touch finish inside the back post.
Kim Joon-Hong had two saves for D.C. United.
Brady had four saves for Chicago (0-1-1).
D.C. United had 57% possession and outshot the Fire 19-11, 6-4 on target.
The Fire played without midfielder Brian Gutierrez, who earned a one-game suspension from MLS because of violent conduct in the 56th minute of the season opener Feb. 22 against the Crew. Gutierrez scored both goals in the Fire’s 4-2 loss in that game.
For the second consecutive week, the Fire signed midfielders Harold Osorio and Sam Williams to short-term agreements from Fire FC II. Williams was in the starting lineup in place of Gutierrez.
Defender Carlos Teran was a late scratch and was replaced by Sam Rogers.
Six Fire players missed the game because of lower-body injuries: Leonardo Barroso, Dylan Borso, Chase Casper, Maren Haile-Selassie, Romingue Kouame and David Poreba.
The Fire are 1-1-4 in home openers since returning to Soldier Field for the 2020 season, with the lone win coming against FC Cincinnati in the COVID-affected season of 2020.
The Fire return to the road next Saturday for a match against FC Dallas in Frisco, Texas.