While the reason for Horner's ousting has not been revealed, Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko has pointed out that performance concerns led to his exit, and that the decision was taken by the managing director of Red Bull GmbH, Oliver Mintzlaff. Newsweek Sports reported his comments:

Hugo Cuypers scored a penalty late in the first half, Chris Brady earned his second consecutive clean sheet, and the Chicago Fire defeated the New York Red Bulls 1-0 on Saturday night.