VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Hugo Cuypers scored in the first minute, Philip Zinckernagel had an assist and his first career goal and Rominigue Kouamé played just eight minutes and scored in his debut as the Chicago Fire rallied to hand the Vancouver Whitecaps their first loss of the season with a 3-1 victory at BC Place on Saturday night.
Chicago has won three straight matches on the road for the first time since 2009.
Cuypers scored 53 seconds into the match to give the Fire (3-1-1) the lead. Vancouver hadn’t allowed a goal in 231 minutes until Cuypers struck. All five of his goals this season have come in the last four matches. Zinckernagel notched his second assist in his fourth career start and appearance.
“We know that they’re an aggressive, attacking team, and they put a lot of pressure on your penalty box and we knew we could expect that,” coach Gregg Berhalter said. “But we also knew that their midfield really has to shift to cover the wide spaces. So the idea was to get it from one side to another. We did that on the first goal, and it was a really good play, really good understanding from the players of how to hurt them.”
Daniel Ríos pulled the Whitecaps (4-1-0) even in the 14th minute with his first goal in his first start and fourth appearance this season. Ríos scored 19 goals over four seasons with three previous clubs before joining Vancouver. Jayden Nelson had the helper on the score and has already collected a career-high four assists this season. The 22-year-old midfielder had three assists in 45 career appearances with Toronto FC.
Zinckernagel scored the winner unassisted in the 62nd minute.
“He was the coaches’ Man of the Match for his contributions,” Berhalter said. “We know what Philip can do. He’s an outstanding player, and as he gets into form, I think you’re going to see him score some goals.”
Kouamé capped the scoring in the fifth minute of stoppage time after entering in the 87th minute. Maren Haile-Selassie notched his first assist this season and the 13th of his career in his third season.
Berhalter coached against his son, Sebastian, who’s a midfielder for the Whitecaps.
“Every time there was a set piece, I held my breath because he puts in such good balls,” Gregg said. “It’s kind of annoying. I was hoping he was going to mis-hit a couple of them, but unfortunately it didn’t happen.
“We got everyone here. We got aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings. Everyone is here for the game, and you know thankfully we won, and so I don’t have to buy dinner.”
Chris Brady totaled one save in goal for the Fire. Yohei Takaoka saved two shots for the Whitecaps, who became the seventh team in league history to win four straight matches to begin the season.
The Fire posted a 3-1 victory in its last trip to Vancouver in 2022. The Whitecaps lead the series 7-4-3.
The Whitecaps travel to play Toronto FC on Saturday. The Fire will host CF Montreal on Saturday.