Brian Gutiérrez and Chris Brady lead Fire to victory over Cincinnati

CINCINNATI (AP) — Brian Gutiérrez scored in the second half and Chris Brady equalized for the Chicago Fire in a 1-0 victory over FC Cincinnati, which played without reigning MVP Luciano Acosta on Wednesday night.

The only goal came in the 69th minute when Gutiérrez took a pass from Hugo Cuypers and found the back of the net for the fifth time this season. It was the second assist for Cuypers, who signed a record-setting contract with the Fire (6-11-7) in the offseason and leads the team with nine goals.

Brady, a 20-year-old goalkeeper in his second full season with the club, finished with nine saves to secure his fourth clean sheet of the season.

Cincinnati (15-6-3) falls to 0-6-4 in games where Acosta is unavailable. He was taken out of the game after injuring his foot last time out in a 3-1 loss to Charlotte FC. The club played without Miles Robinson, who was suspended for one game for a red card he received against Charlotte. Cincinnati will be without defender Alvas Powell for their next game after he received a second yellow card in the 88th minute.

Roman Celentano saved seven shots as Cincinnati goalkeeper after the team lost two consecutive games at home. The club has lost just once away from home this season. The loss, and Inter Miami’s 3-1 win over Toronto FC, pushed Cincinnati out of the lead in the Supporters’ Shield.

Cincinnati recorded a 2-1 win over the Fire at Soldier Field in their first away game of the season.

The Fire travel south to play Inter Miami on Saturday. Cincinnati travels to face the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.