Hugo Cuypers broke a scoreless tie just before halftime with his third goal in four matches as the Chicago Fire defeated the visiting New York Red Bulls 1-0 on Saturday night.

Cuypers’ goal, scored from the penalty spot in the 44th minute, made it back-to-back wins for the Fire (10-9-5, 35 points), who are now unbeaten in their past three matches (2-0-1). They also moved into the ninth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 10 matches remaining.

The Red Bulls (9-10-6, 33 points) dropped their second match in a row, falling to 1-4-3 in their past eight outings while slipping to 10th in the East with nine matches left on their schedule.

The Fire found the scoreboard late in the first half after a VAR check determined that Alexander Hack committed a handball violation in the 18-yard box while attempting a sliding tackle on Cuypers.

Cuypers then converted the subsequent penalty to make it 1-0, striking it into the left side of the net as Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel dove the wrong way.

It was Cuypers’ 14th goal of the season and put him four goals behind Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi and Nashville FC’s Sam Surridge in the Golden Boot standings.

That was all the scoring the Fire needed as they improved to 3-4-4 at Soldier Field. The Red Bulls fell to 1-8-4 on the road.

Chicago outshot New York 13-11, putting six shots on target to New York’s three.

Chris Brady stopped all three shots he faced while keeping his second clean sheet in a row and fifth of the season. Coronel made five saves for the Red Bulls.

It was the Red Bulls’ final match in MLS play before the annual Leagues Cup, contested by all 18 Liga MX clubs and 18 MLS clubs. New York will open group play against visiting Chivas Guadalajara on Thursday.

–Field Level Media