With a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Impact on Saturday evening, the Chicago Fire moved into second place in the Eastern Conference. After falling behind in the 20th minute, the Fire’s trio of midseason acquisitions Sherjill MacDonald, Alex (whose goal is up for MLS Goal of the Week) and Alvaro Fernandez lead the charge as the Men in Red scored three unanswered goals. Catch all of the highlights here.
MacDonald, who hadn’t found the back of the net in nearly a month, said that a chat with Head Coach Frank Klopas helped him relax and alleviate the pressure that he put on himself, leading to his goal Saturday night.
With six game remaining in the MLS Regular Season, the Fire are within reach of a ‘ridiculous’ goal of 60 points that they set during preseason. “We’re going for it,” said midfielder Patrick Nyarko.
As the Fire continue to gain points, folks are taking note of the Fire’s recent run of good form. In his most recent MLS Power Rankings for ESPN, Jeff Carlisle had the Fire in second place, up three spots from last week.
ESPN wasn’t the only one taking notice as the Fire were named Soccer by Ives’ Team of the Week.
The Fire’s run of form could be attributed to the current depth of the squad as the Fire continued to make moves prior to the MLS Roster Freeze on Friday. On Monday, Sept. 10 the Fire acquired midfielder Wells Thompson from the Colorado Rapids and on Friday, Sept. 14 the Men in Red added two-time World Cup veteran and Mexican international Guillermo Franco.
