Joveljic scores twice but Seattle can't hold the lead: Chicago draws 2-2 on Lewandowski header

Dejan Joveljic found the net twice at Lumen Field, and it still wasn't enough for Seattle Sounders FC to walk away with all three points. Chicago Fire FC came back to level the score twice, the last time in the 81st minute with a header from Robert Lewandowski, and the match ended 2-2 in an MLS clash that swung end to end for the full 90 minutes.

The first half was pure back and forth. Just 11 minutes in, Joveljic finished with his right foot from the center of the box off a pass from Sebastian Gomez to put the home side ahead. Chicago answered quickly: Maren Haile-Selassie equalized in the 37th minute with an assist from Lewandowski, just a minute after Philip Zinckernagel had rattled the crossbar. The teams went into the break tied at 1-1, though there was still time for one more attempt from Dje D'Avilla that was saved right before the halftime whistle.

The second half opened with another quick strike from Seattle: in the 47th minute, moments after the restart, Joveljic hammered a shot from outside the box that found the top corner off a pass from Albert Rusnak, making it 2-1. But Chicago Fire kept pushing. Zinckernagel, Puso Dithejane and Jonathan Bamba all tested the Seattle defense at different points in the closing stretch, until the payoff came in the 81st minute: a cross from Dithejane that Lewandowski headed home from close range to seal the final equalizer.

A match dominated in the underlying numbers by the visitors

Beyond the level scoreline, the numbers make clear that Chicago Fire FC carried more of the weight of the game. With more possession, more shots and far more clear-cut chances, the visiting side generated more attacking volume than Seattle, even though it ended up sharing the points.

The post-match xG calculated from the shots taken backs up that reading: 1.406 for Seattle against 1.873 for Chicago. Not an overwhelming gap, but one that lines up with the Fire's 11 shots on target compared to just 3 for the home side.

The pre-match odds had been fairly evenly split: 41% win probability for Seattle, 27% for a draw and 32% for Chicago, with expected goals of 1.61 for the home side and 1.41 for the visitors, a combined total of 3.02. The final result, with four goals split between both teams, ended up fairly close to that goal projection, even if the outcome was the draw, the outcome the model had rated as the least likely of the three.

What the draw leaves behind

For Chicago Fire FC, which came into the match sitting third in the Eastern Conference with 37 points from 21 games played, the road point keeps its strong run going without pulling it much closer to or further from its immediate pursuers, New England Revolution and Charlotte FC. The result also confirms that neither team managed to make the most of its momentum within the match: Seattle went ahead twice and couldn't hold the lead either time. Joveljic walked away with a brace to his name but without the three points that performance seemed to promise, while Lewandowski closed out the afternoon with the goal that brought his side back level at just the right moment.