Giorgos Giakoumakis became just the second player in MLS history to score in each of his first five starts, and host Atlanta United used an own goal in the ninth minute of stoppage time to beat the Chicago Fire 2-1 on Sunday.
United’s Juan José Purata redirected a corner kick off Fire midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie and into the net for an own goal in stoppage time to seal the win.
Giakoumakis, a 28-year-old forward from Greece, opened the scoring in the 13th minute and joined Taylor Twellman, who scored a goal in his first six MLS starts for the New England Revolution in 2002.
Kacper Przybylko subbed on in the 81st minute for the Fire and scored in the 90th to make it 1-1. He ran onto a giveaway by United and had his first shot stopped by backup goalkeeper Clément Diop, but the rebound bounced out to Brian Gutiérrez, who tapped it back to Przybylko for the one-touch finish from point-blank range.
Diop replaced starter Quentin Westberg to begin the second half and finished with two saves in his first appearance of the season. Westberg, who left the game with an apparent knee injury, also stopped two shots.
Chris Brady had three saves for the Fire (2-2-4), who had their five-game unbeaten streak snapped.
United (4-1-3) is unbeaten in four games since suffering its only loss of the season a 6-1 road drubbing by the Columbus Crew.
OL Reign 5, Red Stars 2
Bethany Balcer and Jess Fishlock each scored a pair of goals to lead OL Reign to a victory against the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday.
The win at Seattle’s Lumen Field gave the Reign (3-1-0) their best start since 2014.
Balcer scored the first two goals in the 15th and 20th minutes, with Veronica Latsko and Lauren Barnes assisting. No player has scored more goals at home since 2019 than Balcer, who has 20 goals in Reign home matches.
Arin Wright got a goal back for the Red Stars (1-3-0) in the 32nd minute, pouncing on a ball in the box that the Reign couldn’t clear.
In the final minutes of the first half, Fishlock scored her first goal. Emily Sonnett won a ball that was bouncing around after a Reign corner and passed it to Fishlock for the assist.
Red Stars rookie Ally Schlegel scored her first NWSL goal early in the second half, winning a challenge in the box and sliding her shot into the lower-right corner.
Megan Rapinoe scored on a free kick in the 75th minute, splitting her shot between two Red Stars players before it deflected off another defender and slipped into the near post.
Fishlock scored the Reign’s final goal in the 76th minute, finishing with one touch on a Balcer assist.
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