Revolution aim to keep Nikolic, Fire in check (Jun 17, 2017)

By AP
Published

Goals have not been hard to come by lately for the New England Revolution.

They haven't exactly been scarce for Nemanja Nikolic, either.

Major League Soccer's leading goal scorer, Nikolic and the Chicago Fire visit the Revolution on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., as both teams resume league play after U.S. Open Cup matches.

Nikolic has scored 12 goals through 15 games this season for Chicago (8-3-4), which blanked St. Louis FC 1-0 on Wednesday to advance to the Open Cup's Round of 16.

The Fire also blanked Atlanta United 2-0 in their last MLS match on June 10, improving to 4-0-1 in their last five league games to pull within a point of Toronto FC for first place in the Eastern Conference.

Nikolic scored twice in Chicago's 3-0 win in its first meeting with New England on April 15.

"When we played against Atlanta, we said for us it's payback," Fire coach Veljko Paunovic, whose team lost to Atlanta 4-0 in March, told the team's website. "Now we believe that New England feels the same about us."

Nikolic has four goals during the Fire's recent five-game stretch without a loss.

"He has a nose for scoring and he's very tough to defend," New England's Antonio Mlinar Delamea told the team's website about Nikolic. "We need to close him down, we need to be close to him all the time, and we need to communicate where he is at all times."

New England (5-5-5) has logged consecutive 3-0 victories after shocking Toronto FC on June 3 before blanking the Rochester Rhinos on Wednesday in Open Cup action to move onto the Round of 16.

With 20 points, the Revolution are seventh in the East and currently outside of the playoff picture. The Revs are 3-1-1 over the last five MLS matches.

New England and Chicago are both in the upper echelon of the league in scoring, with the Revs tied for the third-most goals with 26 and the Fire fourth with 25.

Xavier Kouassi (left quad strain) will not play for the Revs while Jorge Bava (left elbow tendinitis) and John Goossens (right ankle surgery) remain sidelined for the Fire.

New England has not lost at home this season, going 5-0-2.