Nemanja Nikolic stayed hot and the Chicago Fire cooled down the first-place Philadelphia Union on Saturday.
Nikolic’s two first-half goals proved to be enough for the 10-man Fire, who played down a man the entire second half but held on for an important 2-0 home win at SeatGeek Stadium.
Chicago controlled play throughout the first half with Nikolic bagging the game’s first goal in the 38th minute, tapping in a deflected cross from Przemyslaw Frankowski at the near post.
The striker completed the brace — his fifth goal in four games — with a 45th-minute penalty kick after Union defender Aurelien Collin took down former Philly forward CJ Sapong in the box.
Philly got a lease on life when Nicolas Gaitan was sent off just before halftime, as the Fire midfielder was shown a straight red for a dangerous slide tackle from behind on Jamiro Monteiro.
But the Union missed the target on their best scoring chances after the break, as their two-game winning streak came to an end.
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Goals
Three Things
MAN OF THE MATCH
: It’s gotta be the game’s only goal-scorer. In addition to his good run of form this month, Nikolic now has scored 50 career goals for the Fire — including six in the five games he’s played against the Union.
Next Up
- CHI: Saturday, August 24 at New England Revolution (7:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, DAZN in Canada)
- PHI: Saturday, August 24 vs. D.C. United (7:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, DAZN in Canada)