On an unseasonably cold night in April, Veljko Paunovic and the Chicago Fire secured the club's first win of the young 2018 season, getting Nemanja Nikolic's 27th-minute goal to stand up as the winner against visiting Columbus Crew SC.
Below are some of the news and notes to come out of the victory:
- Nemanja Nikolic bagged his fourth goal in as many games this year, capitalizing on an errant pass from Crew SC goalkeeper Zak Steffen and finishing with ease in the 27th minute. Nikolic is now up to 28 goals in 38 MLS regular season matches with the Fire and this year is among a group of five MLS players with four or more goals on the year (through Saturday).
- The Men In Red posted their first shutout of the year, their first since blanking D.C. United, 3-0, on Sept. 16 of last year. For goalkeeper Richard Sanchez, it marked his first shutout in six total starts for the Fire dating to last year.
- For Crew SC, it marked only the second time in their last 18 MLS regular season matches that they were unable to find the back of the net.
- Contributing to the defensive effort was Bastian Schweinsteiger, who slotted in at centerback to begin the match and was influential in warding off Crew SC's persistent efforts to find a late equalizer. Per Opta, Schweinsteiger recorded a team-high 11 defensive clearances, all of which were recorded after the 65th minute of the match.
- Two members of the Starting XI were making their first starts as members of the Men In Red: 36-year-old forward Alan Gordon and 22-year-old rookie midfielder Diego Campos.
- Homegrown rookie defender Grant Lillard made his MLS debut, coming off the bench for a 36-minute shift at centerback.
- Drew Conner registered his first start of the year at outside back, while midfielder Brandt Bronico made his first appearance of 2018 as a 77th-minute substitution.
- Chicago walked away with three points despite the visitors holding advantages in possession (64-36%), shots (20-6), corner kicks (11-4) and passing accuracy (81-71%). Both sides' defensive efforts resulted in only three combined shots on goal in the game.
- Although Columbus has had the edge in the Fire-Crew SC series over the last four seasons, the Fire are now unbeaten (2-0-2) in the last four regular season fixtures at Toyota Park, including back-to-back April home wins.
- The two teams are due to meet May 12 in Columbus and again on August 25 at Toyota Park.
