📝Chicago Fire 4-0 Orlando City: Nemanja Nikolić burns the Lions | OneFootball

Chicago scored early and often against cellar-dwelling Orlando City at Toyota Park on Sunday.

The home side started on the front foot and took the lead in just the third minute of play.

Dax McCarty dispossessed Josué Colmán in midfield before finding Michael de Leeuw. The Dutch attacker played a clever centering pass and Nemanja Nikolić crashed the near post to redirect the ball past goalkeeper Joe Bendik, getting clobbered in the process.

Chicago followed their early opener with a second before the half-hour mark. Bendik was very much at fault as the goalkeeper’s poor first touch on a back-pass allowed de Leeuw to gather the ball and find youngster Djordje Mihailovic.

Chicago’s 19-year-old midfielder picked out Aleksandar Katai, who finished in the empty net in the 28th minute.

The home team added to their lead in the second half. In the 56th minute de Leeuw cleaned up a corner kick at the far post to extend his side’s lead. De Leeuw’s tap-in was his first in over a calendar year, since 12 August, 2017.

Chicago’s leading goal-scorer from the 2017 season was not content with a single tally against the Lions. Nikolić scored his 14th goal of the current campaign in the 70th minute after a strong run forward by Raheem Edwards.

The emphatic win amounts to little more than consolation in the bigger picture for Chicago. The Fire came into Sunday’s match even on points with their opponents but the result still means they are 12 points outside of the play-off positions with six games remaining.

If the clubs have largely resigned themselves to missing the post-season, Chicago certainly has more reason for optimism heading into the 2019 season based on Sunday’s 4-0 finish.