BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (May 25, 2017) – The Chicago Fire (7-3-3, 24 points) made it four straight wins on Thursday night, picking up a 2-1 win over visiting FC Dallas (5-2-4, 19 points) at Toyota Park.
Fire forward Nemanja Nikolic got things going , bagging his MLS-leading 11th goal in the third minute of play. Defender Brandon Vincent found himself on the end of a Bastian Schweinsteiger pass high up the field, and played a low cross in for the on-running Nikolic to finish. Dallas wasted little time in equalizing, however. 2017 newcomer Roland Lamah pounced on a deflected clearance attempt in the Fire 18-yard-box to bring things level in the sixth minute.
In what was a whirlwind opening ten minutes, David Accam then immediately reclaimed the lead for the Men In Red. Defender Johan Kappelhof found himself with time to play a long diagonal pass up the field for an advancing Accam. The Ghanaian dangled his defender to his right and fired a hard shot at goal. Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz made contact, but the ball ultimately found net to give the Fire a 2-1 lead in the ninth minute. With the finish, Accam became the first Fire player in club history to score in five consecutive matches.
As the match progressed into the second half, each team found it difficult to break down the opposing defense. Nikolic had an opportunity to ice the game in second half stoppage time when he earned a penalty in front of Seitz’s net, but his low spot kick attempt was denied by the ‘keeper as the match finished 2-1.
Postmatch Reactions: Paunovic | Schweinsteiger | Polster
The win gave the Fire 24 points through the club’s first 13 games, a total matched by the 1998 and 2001 squads as the best-ever in team history through this point in the season.
Chicago’s home record in 2017 now stands at 6-0-1, which is tied for the best mark in MLS to date.
The Fire resume MLS play on Sunday, June 4 with a trip to Orlando City Stadium to take on Orlando City. The nationally televised broadcast is set to kickoff at 6:30 pm CT on FS1.
MLS Regular Season
Chicago Fire (7-3-3, 24 pts.) 2:1 FC Dallas (5-2-4, 19 pts.)
May 25, 2017 – Toyota Park
Attendance: 12,584
Scoring Summary:
CHI – Nemanja Nikolic (Brandon Vincent, Bastian Schweinsteiger) 3’
FCD – Roland Lamah (Cristian Colman) 6’
CHI – David Accam (Johan Kappelhof) 9’
Misconduct Summary:
CHI – Luis Solignac (caution) 18’
FCD – Carlos Gruezo (caution) 21’
FCD – Aaron Guillen (caution) 23’
FCD – Walker Hume (caution) 45’
FCD – Matt Hedges (caution) 70’
CHI – Johan Kappelhof (caution) 83’
Chicago Fire: Matt Lampson, Matt Polster, Johan Kappelhof, Joao Meira, Brandon Vincent, Dax McCarty ©, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Luis Solignac (Juninho 59’), Michael de Leeuw (Jonathan Campbell 75’), David Accam (Arturo Alvarez 85’), Nemanja Nikolic.
Subs not used: Jorge Bava, Michael Harrington, Drew Conner, Djordje Mihailovic.
Shots: 8; Shots On-Goal: 4; Saves: 0; Fouls: 13; Corners: 4; Offsides: 1
FC Dallas: Chris Seitz, Aaron Guillen (Ryan Hollingshead 89’), Matt Hedges, Walker Hume, Atiba Harris, Victor Ulloa, Carlos Cermeno (Javier Morales 64’), Carlos Gruezo, Roland Lamah (Michael Barrios 74’), Cristian Colman, Tesho Akindele.
Subs not used: Jacob Lissek, Maynor Figueroa, Reggie Cannon, Jacori Hayes.
Shots: 9; Shots On-Goal: 1; Saves: 2; Fouls: 23; Corners: 3; Offsides: 2
