Chicago Fire Forward Nemanja Nikoli
October 17, 2017 - Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release
NEW YORK (Tuesday) - Chicago Fire forward Nemanja NikoliÄ was voted the Alcatel MLS Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for the 32nd week of the 2017 MLS season.
NikoliÄ scored his first MLS hat trick to complete Chicago's come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Union at Toyota Park on Sunday. The Hungarian National Team striker leads the Golden Boot race with 24 goals, tied for the sixth-highest total in league history. With eight goals scored over the previous six games, NikoliÄ has the Fire sitting third in the Eastern Conference standings (55 points, 16-10-7 overall record).
NikoliÄ opened the scoring just three minutes in to the game after chasing down a beautiful long ball from teammate Brandon Vincent. After dribbling into the box, NikoliÄ slotted a shot past Union goalkeeper Andre Blake for a 1-0 Fire advantage (Watch Goal).
Philadelphia climbed back with a pair of strikes in the first half for a 2-1 lead, but the Chicago forward capitalized on a chance from the penalty spot in the 64th minute to equalize the score at 2-2 (Watch Goal). The Fire finished the match when Vincent squared a ball into the middle of the box in the 78th minute and NikoliÄ smashed it home to complete his hat trick (Watch Goal). NikoliÄ's five game-winning goals this season rank tied for third in the league.
The Chicago Fire play their final match of the regular season on Sunday, October 22 when taking on the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium (4:00 p.m. ET, MLS Live).
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season by a panel of journalists from NASR. The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
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