Stymied, thwarted, denied, stonewalled -- no matter your verb choice, suffice it to say the Fire were dogged in defense of Matt Lampson's goal during their 2-1 win over a game New England side Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.
Despite a near 50/50 split in possession for the game, the match will likely be remembered for the onslaught of shot attempts brought by the Revs as they pushed hard for an equalizer late on in the second half, and for the collective efforts of the Men In Red to keep the ball out of the net by any means necessary.
The Fire were credited with nine blocks on the night, easily a season high, with the majority coming in some nervy moments after the 85th minute and into added time. Ironically, it was Major League Soccer's leading goal-scorer, Nemanja Nikolic, who led the way for Chicago with three total blocks -- all with his head -- while Bastian Schweinsteiger claimed responsibility for two:
Here's a look at the games this season in which the Fire have recorded three or more blocks (stats via Opta):
DATE |
OPPONENT |
BLOCKS |
---|---|---|
June 17 |
at New England |
9 |
March 11 |
vs. Real Salt Lake |
6 |
May 25 |
vs. FC Dallas |
3 |
June 10 |
vs. Atlanta United FC |
3 |
And, for your viewing pleasure, check out all of the stops in GIF form below:
23' Bastian Schweinsteiger:
49' Nemanja Nikolic:
70' Michael de Leeuw:
87' Johan Kappelhof
88' Matt Polster
88' Nemanja Nikolic, Nemanja Nikolic and Bastian Schweinsteiger:
95' Jonathan Campbell: