Late goal gets FC Cincinnati past Fire

Fanendo Adi scored his first goal of the season in the 83rd minute as FC Cincinnati defeated the host Chicago Fire 2-1 on Saturday night in Bridgeview, Ill.

Allan Cruz also scored for Cincinnati (5-13-2, 17 points), which has won two in a row after snapping a six-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory against Houston last weekend.

Nicolas Gaitan missed two penalty kicks for Chicago (5-9-7, 22 points), although he was able to score on the rebound of the second to tie the score in first-half stoppage time.

The game was delayed for nearly an hour in the first half because of lightning strikes in the vicinity, shortly after Gaitan's first penalty kick hit the post in the 25th minute.

Adi's winner came after teammate Kekuta Manneh controlled the ball just inside the midfield line. He pushed a through ball ahead for Adi, who ran it down at the top of the 18-yard box and immediately struck a left-footed shot into the lower right corner of the net past a diving Fire goalkeeper Kenneth Kronholm.

Cruz gave Cincinnati the lead just 47 seconds into the game. Teammate Leonardo Bernone's cross from the right wing bounced off the chest of Chicago midfielder Fabian Herbers and to Cruz at the top of the 6-yard box, where he made a spinning volley to put the ball in the net past a stunned Kronholm.

Chicago's first penalty kick came after C.J. Sapong, the Fire's leading scorer, was brought down in the penalty area by Cincinnati defender Kendall Waston.

The second came in the third minute of first-half stoppage time after Cincinnati's Emmanuel Ledesma was whistled for a hand ball. Gaitan's shot toward the lower right corner of the was saved by goalie Spencer Richey, but Gaitan was able to pounce on the rebound.

The Fire played without midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, as the German legend was serving a one-game suspension for yellow-card accumulation.