April 10, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Chicago Fire FC News Release
CHICAGO – Chicago Fire FC will host the LA Galaxy at Soldier Field on Saturday, April 16 in one of the most high-profile matchups of the 2022 season. Beginning at 7:00 p.m. CT, Saturday’s contest along the lakefront will be broadcast live on WGN-TV, CF97 Live and TUDN 1200 AM.
With three of the most prominent players in the league expected to feature in the match – Chicago’s Xherdan Shaqiri and LA’s Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and Douglas Costa – the Club encourages fans to arrive early to Soldier Field, as more than 25,000 fans are expected to be in attendance and traffic patterns will be impacted.
Tickets to match are still available for fans to purchase here. Additionally, the latest information on matchday events and logistics can be found here.
Saturday’s match will be the first meeting between the two sides since the 2019 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The two teams last faced off on March 2, 2019, with the Galaxy securing three points in a 2-1 win at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Chicago (2-1-2, 8 points) enters the contest unbeaten at home so far this season, winning once and tying twice, with just one goal conceded along the lakefront. Despite suffering their first away defeat of the season, in a 1-0 loss to Orlando City SC on Saturday, the Fire have held their opponents scoreless in four of their first six matches to start the season and have conceded the fewest number of goals in the league (two).
The Galaxy (4-2-0, 12 points) will travel to Chicago after picking up a second consecutive victory, defeating its crosstown rival LAFC 2-1 in the first “El Trafico” derby of the season. LA is currently in third place in the Supporters’ Shield standings and Chicharito leads the team in scoring with five goals in six matches played.
Saturday’s contest will also mark Fire head coach Ezra Hendrickson’s first matchup against Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney. Hendrickson and Vanney were teammates on the Galaxy from 1997-2001 and helped lead the Southern California side to the 2001 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship and the MLS Supporters’ Shield title. Hendrickson and Vanney each started in the 2001 Open Cup final, with the Fire’s manager providing the team’s opening goal in a 2-1 win over the New England Revolution.
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