Despite playing a man down for much of the game, the Fire salvaged a point with a 0-0 tie Saturday against Orlando City FC at Soldier Field.
Despite the strong effort, however, the Fire (3-4-4) remained winless in six games since a 3-1 road victory March 22 against the Whitecaps.
Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady was assessed a red card for a foul against Duncan McGuire in the 36th minute, forcing the team to replace him with Jeffrey Gal and to lose one of their field players. Still, the Fire finished with an 8-2 edge in shots on goal and held their own in terms of possession.
Gal — a 32-year-old in his third season, all with Chicago — made his MLS debut and finished with one save.
Pedro Gallese had eight saves and his fifth consecutive shutout for Orlando City, which is unbeaten in eight consecutive games It hasn’t allowed a goal in 526 minutes of game time, a club record. The previous mark of 364 was set mostly during the 2023 MLS Cup playoffs.
Gallese made back-to-back saves in the 10th minute, diving to parry a shot from Philip Zinckernagel and then scrambling to swat away a put-back attempt by Hugo Cuypers, before he stopped Jonathan Bamba’s shot in the 16th.