Trio leads Red Bulls to 3-1 victory over Chicago as Fire's Cuypers ups goal-scoring streak to 9

By The Associated PressMay 9, 2026 5:15 pm

CHICAGO — Rookie Jorge Ruvalcaba, Cade Cowell and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored goals to lead the New York Red Bulls to a 3-1 victory the Chicago Fire on Saturday.

The Fire (5-4-2) avoided a shutout when Hugo Cuypers scored in the 87th minute to extend his goal-scoring streak to nine matches. Cuypers had scored two goals in three straight to help Chicago climb to fourth place in the Eastern Conference, entering play. His 11th goal of the season moves him one in front of FC Dallas’ Petar Musa in the Golden Boot Award race.

Ruvalcaba used assists from Emil Forsberg and Adri Mehmeti to find the net the net in the 45th minute and give the Red Bulls (4-5-3) a 1-0 lead at halftime. It was the fourth goal for Ruvalcaba in 12 appearances. Forsberg's helper was his fourth after posting a career-best 11 last season.

Cowell took passes from Ronald Donkor and defender Robert Voloder and scored his first goal of the campaign for a two-goal lead four minutes into the second half.

It was the 11th goal for Cowell in 114 career matches. Donkor already has a career-best four assists, while Voloder notched two in a season for the first time. He had two in 65 appearances with Sporting Kansas City the previous four seasons.

Choupo-Moting subbed in to begin the second half and scored on a penalty kick in the 81st minute to make it 3-0. It was the 37-year-old's second goal this season after scoring 17 times last year in his first season in the league.

Ethan Horvath saved three shots for New York, helping the Red Bulls win at Soldier Field for the first time since 2022 while improving to 2-2-1 in their last five trips there.

Chris Brady totaled one save for Chicago.

Maren Haile-Selassie became the 24th player to make 100 appearances with the Fire.

Philip Zinckernagel had a career-high five-match streak with a goal contribution end for Chicago, which leads the all-time series 33-23-16.

Josef Martínez set the record for consecutive matches with at least one goal at 15 while playing for Atlanta United in 2019.