The Chicago Fire fell short in their quest to pick up valuable road points Saturday in their visit to Red Bull Arena, dropping a 2-1 outcome to the New York Red Bulls. Read up on a few of the news and notes to come out of the contest:
- The Fire became the first opposition side to score at Red Bull Arena in 2017 after four straight clean sheets to begin the home schedule for Jesse Marsch's Red Bulls side. Nemanja Nikolic's goal in the 59th minute broke New York's 419-minute shutout streak to open their home season.
- Despite conceding at home for the first time, the Red Bulls succeeded in extending their 19-match home unbeaten streak.
- The Red Bulls also extended their unbeaten streak in the #NYvCHI series to five matches (4-0-1), bringing the overall all-time series ledger to 26-17 in favor of the Fire (11 draws). The Fire are 2-6-1 all-time at Red Bull Arena.
- Nikolic scored for the fifth time in his debut MLS campaign (8 games), netting his first goal away from Toyota Park. No other Fire player has more than two goals on the young season.
- After serving as New York Red Bulls captain in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Dax McCarty wore the captain's armband for the Chicago Fire Saturday night in his return to the venue he called home for nearly six seasons prior to his January trade to Chicago. McCarty recorded the primary assist on Nikolic's 59th-minute strike, his third assist in his last five outings and the 49th in MLS regular season competition for the U.S. international.
- McCarty now has two goals and two assists in his MLS career in 10 all-time games played against the New York Red Bulls.
- David Accam appeared in the Starting XI after back-to-back matches in which he came off the bench. His inclusion, in place of Michael de Leeuw, marked the only change in the starting lineup for Veljko Paunovic from the previous two outings.
- The Fire finished with advantages in shots (14-10), shots on goal (5-3), possession (51%-49%), corner kicks (5-4), and passing accuracy (71%-68%) on the evening.
- The Red Bulls were shown four yellow cards in Saturday's game while no Fire players entered the book. Including Saturday's game, the Fire have received a league-low seven yellow cards, while New York is tied with Real Salt Lake for the most in MLS with 22.
- The Red Bulls will pay a return trip to Toyota Park on September 9.
- The loss dropped the Fire (3-3-2) below the red line in the Eastern Conference.
- Next up for the Fire is the third and final match of their current stint away from home, heading west to take on the LA Galaxy Saturday (May 6) at 9:30 p.m. CT. The Fire will remain in search of their first road victory since August 20, 2016.
