By Canadian Press

Shaqiri, Haile-Selassie lead Fire to 3-0 romp over Montreal

Jul 13, 2023 | 12:02 AM

CHICAGO (AP-CP) — Xherdan Shaqiri and Maren Haile-Selassie both had a goal and an assist in the first half to power the Chicago Fire to a 3-0 victory over CF Montreal on Wednesday night.

Chicago (7-7-8) struck quickly when Brian Gutiérrez used a pass from 19-year-old Georgios Koutsias in the 9th minute to score his first goal of the season.

Haile-Selassie and Shaqiri set each other’s goals up. Haile-Selassie’s fourth netter this season came two minutes after Gutiérrez scored. Shaqiri scored his third goal of the season in the 34th minute to give the Fire a 3-0 lead at halftime.

“We had chances tonight, but the worst thing is that we lost the game after 10 minutes,” said Montreal head coach Hernan Losada after the game. “It is hard to understand because on the first goal, it was an opportunity for us and in the end, Chicago scores. These are mistakes that are hard to accept at this level.

“We are losing together as a team. You win or you lose as a group.”

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Chicago snapped a four-match losing streak to Montreal (8-12-2) with its first multi-goal margin of victory this season.

Chris Brady saved four shots to earn the clean sheet for the Fire. Jonathan Sirois totalled two saves for Montreal.

Montreal falls to 3-6-3 all-time against the Fire in Chicago.

“It is frustrating because they capitalized on three of their five shots and we did not score on 17 shots,” said Montreal defender Joel Waterman. “They took care of their chances. We have to find ways to score.”

Montreal has been shut out in nine of its 12 road matches this season with a 1-9-2 record. The club has scored just four away goals all season. Montreal has earned only five points on the road this season after leading the league with 35 in 2022.

The Fire improve to 4-1-0 in their last five matches after a 3-6-8 start.

Montreal returns home to host Charlotte FC on Saturday. Chicago will host Toronto FC on Saturday.

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The Associated Press