Chicago Fire Earn 3-2 Home Win Over New York City FC
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (June 30, 2018) – Facing a 2-1 halftime deficit against visiting New York City FC (9-4-4, 31 points), the Chicago Fire (6-7-5, 23 points) received two second-half goals in a span of five minutes from Serbian winger Aleksandar Katai, helping the Men In Red earn an eventual 3-2 victory over second-place NYCFC Saturday at Toyota Park.
With the win, the Fire finished the month of June unbeaten in seven matches across all competitions. The streak includes a 2-0-3 record in five league matches and a 1-0-1 record in two Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup matches.
Chicago got off to a fast start in the match when Nemanja Nikoli opened the scoring in the 6th minute. Nikoli received a through-ball from Dax McCarty and beat NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson for his 31st MLS regular season goal.
New York City FC responded in the 36th minute when Ismael Tajouri-Shradi blasted in a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area. Four minutes later, Jo Inge Berget finished a set-piece header to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.
The Fire received an immediate spark from Katai to begin the second half. Gaining possession on the right touchline, Katai eluded his defender and fired his left-footed effort past Johnson in the 47th minute. In the 52nd minute Katai received a feed from Elliot Collier, this time shaking a pair of defenders and calmly firing a shot over Johnson’s shoulder for his eighth goal in 17 appearances this season.
NYCFC pressured the Fire on several occasions down the stretch, but key saves by Richard Sánchez helped preserve the 3-2 victory.
With two goals on the evening, Katai set a Fire club record by notching a goal or an assist in eight consecutive MLS matches.
The Chicago Fire next travel to face Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place on Saturday, July 7 at 9:30 p.m. CT (ESPN+/Univision Radio WRTO AM 1200). Coverage begins at 9:15 p.m. CT with a live pregame show on ESPN+ presented by CIBC.
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Veljko Paunovi… – Head Coach, Chicago Fire
Thoughts on the match:
“I think it was at the moment a very difficult game for us. We wanted to have the possession, every time we did that in the first half, it was very important because of the weather and how hot it was outside and I think it’s very important that you dominate, you control the ball, but we had formed a very good team. We had a team that is capable of doing the same and they took the ball away from us and they did that better than us but what we did good is the adjustments. We said ‘okay, so we have to defend more, we had to switch some formations, switch some players.’
By the way, I want to just endorse all the guys who came off the bench, Alan Gordon, Tony Tchani, Mo Adams, they helped the team and obviously in other occasions it was somebody else who’s coming off the bench and helping the team. That’s the spirit that we have. It’s great to see that you become a member of this team and it’s great to be the coach today of the Chicago Fire. I’m very, very proud of the group. We just have to know that right now where we stand, we have to keep working. Finally we passed that red line and now we just stand above and in the group for the playoffs but that doesn’t mean anything for one week. We have to stay consistent, we have to keep working, building on top of what we are assembling right now, and that’s a confident group that can adapt and adjust to any demand of the game, and be smart, and try to be smart and lucky and that’s what it is. That’s how it works. We have to just be confident and we have to stick with our mindset that we have so far, which was ‘we will always adjust, we will always move the bar higher if we want to achieve the playoffs and we will push all our guys to the next level.’ I think that wins like today help a lot.
Another thing that is also important is that we were capable of coming back. I think this is the first time this year that at halftime, we come back from a negative result and win the game, close down the game, win it against a team that since I’ve been here, we didn’t have the opportunity to win, and they’re one of the best teams in this league.”
On the importance of the win [translated from Spanish]:
“It’s been a difficult game. We showed character. We showed capacity in moments when we were dangerous and created chances and more than anything converted, today, the few chances we had in a pair of situations and above all with the two great goals by Katai. I think this is, so to speak, the shortest analysis we can give. I think in moments we were able to play but we were affected by the game plan by New York City FC. They took the ball from us and it cost us getting it back due to, at this point in the season the heat, and it was key to keep possession of the ball and not allow them to move from one side to the other and look for situations where they could create an advantage. The team, when we saw that we were incapable of controlling the game with the ball, we had to adjust and started to defend. We defended fairly well despite there being moments of panic. Today, I think compared to other games where we did more and deserved more, today was a bit of a reward and we continue. The most important thing was to see that we showed character and were capable of making a comeback. It’s important that we were finally able to get over the line and be in playoff position and we’ve beaten a team that in the past has been almost impossible for us. Once again, we’ve added another opponent that is in playoff contention that we’ve beaten this season. I think it serves a lot looking forward to gain confidence, keep working, and keep improving.”
Aleksandar Katai – Midfielder, Chicago Fire
On continuing his scoring streak:
“Of course, but I think most important for us is that we got three points and we need to keep it up. I think, every game we play better and better, and I hope that we will keep playing good.”
On playing with confidence:
“I also think that the team played good and with more confidence. I just think that we are all players that are important for the team. It’s not one player, like we see in the World Cup, only Messi, it’s not enough.”
Dax McCarty – Midfielder, Chicago Fire
If the Fire win the game without Aleksandar Katai:
“Maybe, maybe not. He scored two great goals. He’s a match winner, he’s been a match winner for us for the past couple months and he’s in tremendous form right now. When you got a guy that’s as hot as he is right now, creating chances and scoring goals the way he is, you’ve got to get him the ball, you’ve got to make sure that you’re getting him in dangerous positions. He did that tonight.”
On the adverse weather conditions:
“It was tough, the heat was very difficult but both teams had to deal with it and had to play through it. I thought they dealt with it better because they kept the ball better, it’s as simple as that. We struggled mightily to keep possession; on a hot day, you’re just going to wear yourself out. You can’t do that, it was alarming how much we just lost the ball so easily and basically let them step on the field and let them dictate the entire game. That’s one of those games where you have to grind and you have to make sure that you dig deep, because you are tired, everyone is exhausted. They’re popping the ball around really well and they have good players that keep possession. We unfortunately weren’t able to do that tonight. Usually, we’re a little bit better in possession, but they certainly dictated the game and we were fortunate to have a good start to the second half and score a few goals and then hang on at the end.”
On his assist to Nemanja Nikoli…
“Part of our game plan was, they play with a really high line, their back line stays really high and it’s really risky, because if one or two guys get a little bit out of sync, you can leave gaps and be exposed by balls in behind, balls over the top, through balls. I just got a little bit of space, they pressed us in the midfield pretty well the whole game and the one or two times I got a little bit of time and space, I wanted to look up and try to play forward. That was one of those plays where Niko just kind of rides with the line and luckily, he stays onside and I just have to play a good ball to his feet and then he’s pretty much in. He did all the work, I just had to get it to him and he had a great finish and it’s good to get him going again and get him back on the score sheet in league play.”
Chicago Fire 3:2 New York City FC
June 30, 2018 – Toyota Park
Attendance: 15,204
Scoring Summary:
CHI – Nemanja Nikoli… (Dax McCarty) 6′
NYCFC – Ismael Tajouri-Shradi (Maximiliano Morález) 36′
NYCFC – Jo Inge Berget (Anton Tinnerholm, Ismael Tajouri-Shradi) 40′
CHI – Aleksandar Katai (Dax McCarty) 47′
CHI – Aleksandar Katai (Elliot Collier) 52′
Misconduct Summary:
CHI – Brandt Bronico (caution) 10′
NYCFC – Alexander Ring (caution) 28′
CHI – Richard Sánchez (caution) 89′
CHI – Alan Gordon (caution) 90′ +1′
Chicago Fire: Richard Sánchez; Diego Campos, Jonathan Campbell, Brandon Vincent, Jorge Corrales; Dax McCarty ©, Brandt Bronico, Bastian Schweinsteiger (Tony Tchani 85′); Elliot Collier (Mo Adams 66′), Aleksandar Katai, Nemanja Nikoli… (Alan Gordon 72′)
Subs not used: Stefan Cleveland, Christian Dean, Rafael Ramos, Jon Bakero
Shots: 5; Shots On-Goal: 5 Fouls: 12; Saves: 4; Offsides: 3; Corners: 1
New York City FC: Sean Johnson; Sebastien Ibeagha, Alexander Ring, Alexander Callens; Anton Tinnerholm, Maximiliano Morález, Ebenezer Ofori, Ben Sweat (Jonathan Lewis 75′); Ismael Tajouri-Shradi, Jesús Medina (Thomas McNamara 90+2′), Jo Inge Berget
Subs not used: Kwame Awuah, Brad Stuver, Maxime Chanot, Saad Abdul-Salaa, James Sands
Shots: 19; Shots On-Goal: 6; Fouls: 5; Saves: 2; Offsides: 0; Corners: 5
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