Andrew Gutman and Hugo Cuypers each scored, Chris Brady recorded his second straight clean sheet and the Chicago Fire beat the Columbus Crew 2-0 on Saturday night at Soldier Field.
The Fire (14-11-6) moved within two points of the eighth-place Crew (13-8-11), who clinched a playoff berth earlier when the New York Red Bulls lost to New York City FC.
Gutman opened the scoring in the 25th minute when he appeared to be crossing it for Cuypers, but it found the back of the net.
Cuypers chipped it over goalkeeper Evan Bush, who had come out of his area on a breakaway, in the 70th for his 17th goal of the season.
The Crew have only won once in their last eight matches.