Evander Da Silva Ferreira scores twice as Cincinnati tops Fire 3-2 for fourth straight victory

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CHICAGO (AP) — Evander Da Silva Ferreira scored a goal in each half and FC Cincinnati upped its win streak to four with a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Fire on Saturday night.

Evander staked Cincinnati (6-2-1) to a 1-0 lead in the 9th minute with an assist from Sergio Santos. His second goal — and sixth in his first season with the club — came in the 71st minute with an assist from Luca Orellano for a 3-1 lead.

Evander had 24 goals in his two seasons with the Portland Timbers before coming over. It was the first assist for Orellano after subbing in for Santos in the 54th minute.

Hugo Cuypers pulled the Fire (3-3-3) even at 1-1 in the 31st minute when he took a pass from Jonathan Bamba and scored for the sixth time this season. Bamba's assist was his fourth in his first season in the league.

Cincinnati grabbed the lead for good when Santos fed rookie Kévin Denkey for a score in the 42nd minute for a 2-1 halftime advantage. It was the fourth goal for Denkey. Santos notched his first two assists of the season.

Brian Gutiérrez capped the scoring for the Fire in the 85th minute with a penalty-kick goal. The PK was awarded after Andrew Gutman was fouled by Miles Robinson. It was the third goal this season for Gutiérrez.

Roman Celentano saved two shots for Cincinnati.

Chris Brady finished with five saves for Chicago.

Cincinnati leads the all-time series 6-4-3 after improving to 4-1-1 all time at Soldier Field.

Cincinnati returns home to play Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. The Fire travel to play Nashville SC on Saturday

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer