Coming off a win last weekend and another victorious evening Wednesday in the U.S. Open Cup, the Fire looked poised to claim another three points at home Saturday against the New England Revolution, but an 82nd equalizer sent the match to a 1-1 finish. Catch up on some of key news and notes to come out of the Saturday night tilt:
- Following his midweek brace in the Open Cup, Nemanja Nikolic had a few early looks at goal Saturday night before being forced to exit in just the 13th minute with a head injury. After the game, head coach Veljko Paunovic informed media members that Nikolic continues to be monitored by team medical personnel, but also sounded hopeful that the reigning Golden Boot winner would not be sidelined for any extended length of time.
- Bastian Schweinsteiger picked up the scoring slack in Nikolic’s absence, powering home a 63rd-minute rocket off a feed from Aleksandar Katai. The goal was the fifth for Schweinsteiger as a member of the Fire, his second of the season, and his first in front of the home crowd since April 15, 2017, which also happened to come against the New England Revolution.
- In setting up Schweinsteiger’s strike, Katai now has registered either a goal or an assist in five consecutive MLS matches.
- The 1-1 draw snapped Chicago’s four-game winning streak against New England, but extended the Fire’s home unbeaten run against the Revs to eight games (5-0-3).
- In sharing the points with New England, the Fire remained five points behind the fifth-place Revs but did gain ground in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. With 18 points (1.2 ppg), Chicago is now level with Philadelphia in seventh place and one point behind Orlando City SC for the final playoff position in the East.
- The schedule remains busy in the weeks ahead, as the Fire now turn their attention to a midweek test at Colorado (Wednesday, 8:30 PM CT, ESPN+). It's the first of three straight road trips across MLS and U.S. Open Cup play that will see the Men In Red travel to Denver, Atlanta and Seattle.
