BRADENTON, Fla. --- New FC Cincinnati signing Djiby Fall scored his first goal for the club, while Kenney Walker also struck late, but Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire held on to take a 3-2 victory in a preseason exhibition on Wednesday evening at IMG Academy.

Cincinnati thought it had taken the lead just nine minutes in when Aodhan Quinn fired home from the top of the penalty area, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside. Both sides threatened in the opening half-hour, with FCC goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt forced into a scrambling second save to deny a fierce shot by Fire midfielder Juninho, but Luis Solignac put Chicago on the scoreboard in the 31st minute as he headed home a cross from the left by John Goossens.

The Fire remained ahead, although Jimmy McLaughlin and Victor Mansaray almost connect for an equalizer for FCC in the 53th minute, and added to their lead when Michael de Leeuw collected a cross from Patrick Doody and fired a shot that Dallas Jaye was unable to keep out of the net with 20 minutes to go.

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The game then saw a wild final five minutes, as Fall trimmed the lead to one for FCC in the 88th minute when he took a long cross from Paul Nicholson and headed the ball over Fire goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland to add to his assist in FCC’s opening preseason contest.

The Fire answered a minute later when Matej Dekovic took advantage of an unsuccessful clearance off a corner kick to make it 3-1. FCC hit back again a minute later when Kenney Walker fired home a finish from 25 yards out. The rally came up short, however, as the Fire saw out the remaining time.

FCC will return to preseason action on Saturday when it faces fellow USL side Ottawa Fury FC at 4 p.m. ET.