PC: Chris Baumgardner/LMD Media Group
After two consecutive underwhelming performances since the seven-week break from MLS play, the Fire lit up the city of Chicago after securing a 2-1 win over Charlotte FC on August 1 at Soldier Field.
Coming off two tough road losses to Inter Miami and NYCFC, the Men in Red shook off their losing skid with a brace from the club's newest superstar, Robert Lewandowski. It only took the Polish icon 20 minutes of the match to score his first goal since joining Major League Soccer in his third appearance with Chicago.
"That type of quality is hard to find," Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhalter said during the post-game press conference. "When you think about when you look at the two goals he scored, when you look at some of the other plays that he has in the game, it's just high quality."
"Personally, it's been a little bit unfair to Robert. Him being off for several weeks and coming back and joining a team that's in the midseason form and midseason fitness. But you see as he
starts to get fit, what he can do."
starts to get fit, what he can do."
The global soccer icon was warmly welcomed by a roaring crowd of 32,183 fans in Chicago with his own individual walkout before kickoff.
Along with Lewandowski's ovation came a tactical change by Berhalter, who set his squad up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, compared to the 4-4-2 used in the past two matches.
The first goal from the 37-year-old striker came only 90 seconds after the Fire conceded a goal in the 18th minute off a give-and-go sequence in their own penalty box between Charlotte FC's Idan Toklomati and Pep Biel, putting the Fire behind early.
Biel smashed the ball in the back of the net after sneaking a shot past a block attempt by Fire defender Andrew Gutman.
Lewandowski leveled the match after receiving a header from back-to-back MLS All-Star Philip Zinckernagel, the club's first goal from outside of the box this season. He is now the fourth player in club history to score multiple goals in his home debut, joining Frank Klopas (1998), Andy Herron (2008), and Tomasz Frankowski (2008).
After playing over 90 minutes for the first time since joining MLS, Lewandowski knows that more goals will be coming and the only thing he needed was a little time to settle in.
"I just needed a period of preparation, Lewandowski told the media post-game. "I think anyone who knows anything about soccer could see that and probably expected it."
“Every time I join a new club, and I'm waiting for the first goal, it's also important for me to check that I'm here, that I scored the goal, that we won the game. And I think for the next step, it's a little bit easier to do the next step with the team and also for myself. I'm really happy to be here and enjoy every day. The lifestyle, the club, the organization. Everything is really at the top level."
Zinckernagel played the entirety of the match, tallying his eighth assist this season even after playing 45 minutes in the 2026 MLS All-Star Game in Charlotte on Wednesday. With the late addition to the All-Star roster, the Danish forward became the first Fire player to participate in consecutive All-Star Games since 2009.
After only playing three matches so far with his new superstar teammate, Zinckernagel emphasized that the club's change at the striker position won't effect his willingness to produce goal contributions to whoever is surrounded by him on the pitch.
"Obviously, Hugo [Cuypers] and I had a really good relationship on the pitch and outside, so it doesn't really change my role. I just have to adapt to Lewandowski now, and I can probably learn a thing or two from him, so that's not bad.”
Lewy would go on to score the game-winning goal in the 68th minute after taking two touches in the box to set up the shot that secured the Fire's come-from-behind win over Charlotte.
The goal stemmed from a ball from Gutman that traveled towards MLS veteran Robin Lod’s foot, who one-touched it to Lewy to set up the shot in front of goal.
"Those first three weeks, I focused more on the harder work, regardless of whether I felt fresh or if my legs would hold up, but since this week was already less than a full week, I definitely used that time to push a little harder," Lewandowski said. "I worked harder than my teammates, so I took advantage of that, and I’m really happy that I won my first home game with two goals."
With his game-winning goal contribution, the Finnish midfielder earned his third assist of the season. Lod played the majority of the match as an attacking midfielder and showed quality while setting up his forwards for chances in front of goal.
After giving up the lead, Charlotte showed no signs of urgency towards goal, ending the match with only one shot on goal with no real response to break down the Fire's defensive unit.
In the previous two matches, many of the Fire's conceded goals came off poor defensive positioning and midfielders being victims of ball-watching. Led by a strong defensive performance by Fire defender Joel Waterman and Lewandowski's goal contributions, the Men in Red were clearly the better team on both sides of the ball.
Since the arrival of South African prodigy Mbekezeli Mbokazi, the Canadian defender became the odd-man-out of the starting lineup and stayed in the rotation as a substitute with limited minutes. Waterman seeks to take full advantage of Mbokazi's time off the field due to a muscle tear from training and fill the hole in the Fire's defensive unit.
"I wasn’t really happy with how the first half of the season went," Waterman said. "I want to play every game. Obviously, everyone does, so if I can step in and just do my job and help this team win, that's all I care about. It's all 11 guys too, it's not just me."
"We worked a lot this week on our defensive shape and how we want the team to move and have all 11 players on the same page. It was a really good week of training, and obviously it showed tonight."
With the Fire scheduled to play no less than seven games this month between Leagues Cup and MLS regular season competition, a chance for more lineup rotations to accommodate player load management could lead to opportunities for non-starters and keep the veteran players fresh.
"I'm confident that we have a good squad and we have enough players to rotate," Zinckernagel told the media post-game. "Today, Maren [Haile-Selassie] only played a few minutes, and he's a quality player, so hopefully, he can play some minutes in the Leagues Cup as well. I think we have enough depth to solve it.”
The Fire will stay at home this week to play against Liga MX side Necaxa on August 6 at SeatGeek Stadium for their first Leagues Cup group stage match.
