Hugo Cuypers scored a late brace to give Chicago Fire FC a dramatic win over the Philadelphia Union and earn MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra honors for Matchday 24.
Cuypers opened his first-career brace in the 82nd minute and struck again in the second minute of second-half stoppage time to help the Fire turn a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 victory Wednesday at Soldier Field. The club-record signing now has nine goals in his debut MLS season, all coming from open play.
Chicago's late-game heroics mirrored their 4-3 win over CF Montréal on March 16, in which they overcame a two-goal deficit with three tallies after the 80th minute to take all three points. Before this year, the Fire had not won a match after being down two goals since August 2009, nor had they scored three goals after the 80th minute since July 2001.
Cuypers is the first Chicago player to be named MLS Player of the Matchday since Jhon Durán in Matchday 20 of 2022. He's the second Belgian player to receive the award this season, following two-time winner Christian Benteke, of D.C. United. Argentina (four) and Colombia (four) are the only two countries with at least three Player of the Matchday winners in 2024.
Chicago return to action on Sunday with a Matchday 25 visit to the San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
The MLS Player of the Matchday is selected each matchday of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while an X (formerly known as Twitter) fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
