Lewandowski's two penalties not enough as Columbus edge Chicago 4-3

Robert Lewandowski scored twice from the penalty spot for Chicago Fire on Saturday 7 November 2026, and it still wasn't enough. Columbus Crew won 3-4 at Chicago on MLS Decision Day, with Brais Méndez settling a wild afternoon in stoppage time.

How the goals fell

Our match timeline reads like a tennis rally. Lewandowski opened the scoring with an 8th-minute penalty, and Gonzalo Tapia levelled in the 16th.

Lewandowski struck again from the spot in the 22nd minute, only for A. Zaroury to reply in the 23rd. M. Haile-Selassie then put Chicago ahead for a third time in the 45th minute.

Columbus won a match in which they'd trailed on three occasions. Tapia completed his brace in the 62nd minute, and Méndez's winner, logged at 90 in our data, arrived in stoppage time.

Where it leaves the table

After the game, Chicago Fire sit 4th on 55 points from 34 matches, with a goal difference of 10. New England Revolution are directly above them in 3rd on 58 points, while Charlotte are right behind in 5th on 54 points, with a goal difference of 15.

The win took Columbus Crew to 47 points, which leaves them 7th, between Philadelphia Union in 6th on 50 points and Orlando City in 8th on 46.

The numbers behind the defeat

Chicago's last five results read L W D W L. Look at the scorelines and a pattern jumps out: 3-4 against Columbus, 4-2 at Colorado Rapids, 2-2 against Orlando City, 3-2 at Atlanta Utd and 0-1 at New England Revolution.

The attack is clearly not the problem. Chicago have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last eight matches and have conceded 10 goals in their last four. Nito thinks that is the stat that matters most heading into knockout football, where one leaky afternoon ends a season.

Lewandowski's two penalties show Chicago can create and convert. The question is whether they can protect a lead, and on Saturday they let one slip three times.

What's next

The regular season is done, and the playoffs come next. Chicago will face Charlotte, the side sitting just one place below them in our table, and it pits Charlotte's goal difference of 15 against a Chicago team that keeps finding the net but keeps conceding too.

Nito will be watching whether Chicago can tighten up at the back before then. You can follow their numbers on our Chicago Fire team page.

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