Chicago 4-0 Victory Over Orlando
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – The Chicago Fire (7-15-6, 27 points) recorded a 4-0 win over Orlando City SC (7-18-3, 24 points) on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Park, marking the team’s largest margin of victory in regular-season play in the 2018 campaign.
The Fire opened scoring in the third minute of play when midfielder Michael de Leeuw played a pass to the near post to forward Nemanja Nikolic, who converted from close range (VIDEO). Nikolic’s third-minute strike marked the team’s quickest league goal in 2018.
With the Fire continuing to pressure Orlando City early in the first half, the team forced a turnover from goalkeeper Joe Bendik inside the 18-yard box, leading to a right-footed finish from midfielder Aleksandar Katai in the 28th minute (VIDEO).
The Fire added a third goal in the 56th minute when de Leeuw got on the end of a corner kick to redirect the ball into goal with his left foot (VIDEO). The play marked de Leeuw’s first goal in just his fourth appearance this season after recovering from a ruptured anterior-cruciate ligament suffered on Sept. 30, 2017.
Nikolic completed his brace in the 70th minute when midfielder Raheem Edwards won the ball in the center circle, raced toward goal and played a well-weighted pass back across the 18-yard box. Taking a quick touch to settle Edwards’ pass, Nikolic placed his left-footed shot into the far corner to propel the Fire to a four-goal lead (VIDEO).
Next up, the Fire will travel to take on the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
Thoughts on the game:
“I think we had a great showing today. It took a while to get here but mainly grateful to the public who came. We know they’ve suffered and waited a long time for a showing and a victory like this. It finally came and they helped us get it today. On the other side, I think we executed our plan well. I think we played well the first 20 minutes, attacking the way we wanted. We maintained the ball well and moved it from one side to the other and when we didn’t have it we recuperated it quickly with intense pressure given today’s heat. Both goals came as a result of that. One was a collective play and the other after a high press, recovery of the ball, and a quick transition. We can be happy about that. In the second half we came out the way we talked during halftime. We came out to play our game, not to defend the 2-0, but to score a third. Once the third goal came, we also looked to the bench to get the fourth and at the same time give defensive solidity and more possession to close out the game with the ball.”
On the performance of Michael de Leeuw:
“I think he always, like in the past, adds a lot of effort, a lot of commitment to our game plan, and also to excels in all his talent. I think he’s a giver in terms of he never stops. He misses an opportunity, he comes back. He’s a giver in effort to his teammates and also he pushes everyone forward. He gives the example that he demands from everyone so I think he’s the right fit for our team and for our club and he’s always been. We’re very happy that he has recovered and that he had a goal today and helped the team also to win, and he performed well. He’s very important for us.”
On the benefits of the break:
“Yeah, I think we could say that only because after the game in Munich we did what we had to do. There was an adjustment in attitude, adjustment in some things that we had to do and we worked very good. I think this week was the best week in training so far and we might, after the break, be in a position where we can create momentum. Starting with this game, six games left, great win today. Means a lot for the confidence and now we have to be smart and build on top of this and just try to always give our best but also compete and go into every game knowing we have a possibility to win. Now that the league is getting to the point where everyone needs points, everyone is fighting for something, and everyone has a lot of games behind and issues and everything. I think we’re in a good spot. For the first time we have most of the guys recovered, or coming back soon, so that’s going to help us also for the coming games where we want to give our best and it doesn’t just mean giving your best without winning. We want to go for every game to win and we’ll see where that is going to take us.”
On the prior winless streak:
“I know that I have to give explanations and I’ll always give them but I always focus on the future and on working. To give explanations for something that’s in the past, something we’ve broken is simply, in my opinion, going back to or returning to negative memories which I don’t want to do. Thus, it doesn’t matter. What matters is what we can do going forward and what we can do is having this victory today as something important for our confidence and to see that we can continue playing good soccer. I think it’s what we have to focus on and simply push the guys to something positive and give them confidence so that the remaining games, the remaining six games, they can enjoy, win, and feel good and finish the regular season in the best way possible. Then we’ll talk about other things.”
Michael de Leeuw – Midfielder, Chicago Fire
On the performance:
“To be fully back and to get my first goal and first assist of the season, it’s good to contribute like this so I feel pretty good.”
On exiting the match in the 64th minute:
“Honestly, with the weather, the tank was getting empty so for me it was a good shift. It’s not necessary to push it now. I think the game was done at that point, it was 3-0. As a team, we did great because at halftime we were like, ‘okay guys, we need to push for the 3-0, then the game’s over.’ At the end, we could’ve scored like five or six but 4-0 at home, I think the fans had a good game so it’s good for us. We just need to move forward and look to next week.”
On ending the winless run:
“We just knew there’s quality on the team. We just need to be focused and do our job, do the things we can do. I think today, again, same as Columbus at home with our pressing. If everybody joins in the pressing, we can get the ball and today we scored a goal off that. Overall, what we trained this week, what we wanted to do, worked out. I think the whole team did great and I’m just happy with the result.”
Nemanja Nikolic – Forward, Chicago Fire
On the victory:
“We had a plan for this game. I think we had two weeks off and that break helped us a lot to practice more things that we want to play. Of course, it helps a lot when you score in the first minutes. Your confidence is up, you play with more confidence, you enjoy the game, you create more opportunities. I think defensively, offensively, we played a good game. We win, and this is in this moment the most important.”
If the break was beneficial from a mental aspect:
“More mentally than physically, we needed to go a little bit from this dressing room, from this place just to be all together a couple of days in Munich, which helped us a lot I think. We also played a great game against a great opponent, and also we had more time to be together. We had more time and more trainings to practice things. It’s not an excuse but I think now all the injured players are coming back, like Michael de Leeuw, Djordje [Mihailovic] from last year, they know our game, they know our style. They help us a lot, they bring quality into our team and also we are competitive inside the locker room for our spaces. I think this also helps us.”
On having Michael de Leeuw and Djordje Mihailovic back from injury:
“We know each other from the last year. Especially with Michael de Leeuw, he’s a guy who works a lot for the team, defensively, offensively. He gives us a lot of quality in our game and he knows the style of what we want to play. Djordje is a guy who knows everything, has soccer in his head, he makes really good decisions on the field. He’s still young, he still has space to improve and we will help him to improve. He’s a guy that likes to work a lot so we will push him a lot and we want to see from him what we saw today.”
Chicago Fire 4:0 Orlando City SC
Sept. 16, 2018 – Toyota Park
Attendance: 16,287
Scoring Summary:
CHI – Nemanja Nikolic (Michael de Leeuw, Dax McCarty) 3′
CHI – Aleksandar Katai (Djordje Mihailovic, Michael de Leeuw) 28′
CHI – Michael de Leeuw (Johan Kappelhof, Djordje Mihailovic) 56′
CHI – Nemanja Nikolic (Raheem Edwards) 70′
Misconduct Summary:
CHI – Aleksandar Katai (caution) 58′
Chicago Fire: Richard Sanchez; Nicolas Hasler, Johan Kappelhof, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Brandon Vincent; Dax McCarty ©, Brandt Bronico; Aleksandar Katai (Daniel Johnson 80′), Djordje Mihailovic (Drew Conner 73′), Michael de Leeuw (Raheem Edwards 64′); Nemanja Nikolic
Subs not used: Stefan Cleveland, Jonathan Campbell, Jorge Corrales, Alan Gordon
Shots: 16; Shots On-Goal: 6 Fouls:12; Saves: 2; Offsides: 1; Corners: 12
Orlando City SC: Joe Bendik, Scott Sutter, Shane O’Neill (Chris Mueller HT), Jonathan Spector ©, Carlos Ascues, Sacha Kljestan, Yoshimar Yotun, Mohamed El-Munir, Oriol Rosell, Josue Coleman (Pierre Da Silva 70′), Dom Dwyer
Subs not used: Adam Grinwis, Lamine Sane, Will Johnson, Stefano Pinho, RJ Allen
Shots: 11; Shots On-Goal: 2; Fouls: 11; Saves: 2; Offsides:1; Corners: 3
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