• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The NYCFC Nation

Independent New York City Football Club coverage

  • Podcast
  • SportsHosts
  • Contact
You are here: Home / NYCFC / Storm is Brewing: Torrent, NYCFC Descend on Windy City

June 29, 2018 By Chris Magalee

Storm is Brewing: Torrent, NYCFC Descend on Windy City

Share
Domè Torrent on the touchline vs Toronto FC
Domè Torrent and NYCFC will take on Chicago Fire for the first time in 2018.

BRIDGEVIEW, IL – Last season, Vejlko Paunovic turned his Chicago Fire SC around in a nearly worst-to-first fashion. The Fire were in a battle for the top spot in MLS all season long.

After re-tooling this season, however, Chicago has struggled to find consistent form.

Don’t forget to check out our latest New York City Football Podcast episode!

Chicago Fire SC (5W-7L-5D; 20pts, 7th in the East)

Chicago has had a frustrating season from an outsider’s perspective. Early wins against both Columbus and the Red Bulls – teams now both vying for the Supporter’s Shield – seemed to indicate that despite early struggles this team could still hang with the best in the league. Indeed, Chicago are unbeaten in their last four matches, but they’re only getting draws against bottom-feeding teams like Colorado and Seattle.

Bastian Schweinsteiger and Dax McCarty are still anchoring the Chicago midfield, and Nemanja Nikolic is still up front pounding away at goal (6). Paunovic has added another impact player – Aleksandar Katai – on loan from Alaves in La Liga. The 27-year-old Serb can play anywhere as an attacking midfielder or forward – and well. Katai currently has a goal or an assist in six of Chicago’s last seven matches.

Chicago is not without their absences. Then-rookie midfielder Djordje Mihailovic (1 goal, 2 assists in 17 appearances in 2017) suffered an ACL rupture in the playoffs of last year and is still sidelined after repair surgery. Michael de Leeuw and Matt Polster – also Chicago mainstays – both suffered ACL and MCL tears respectively and will be out. Finally, defensive midfielder Johan Kappelhoff, who had been making spot starts as a centerback, is serving a suspension.

New York City FC (9W-3L-4D; 31pts, 2nd in the East)

Domè Torrent will be on the touchline for his first away match with NYCFC. The Pigeons haven’t lost a match to Chicago since 2015, when Ryan Meara went for a walk outside the box and was immediately punished by David Accam (#RedBullDNA). In the six matches since then, NYCFC has gone 3-0-3 with a +5 goal differential. Also of note, NYCFC seems to like being penalized against Chicago, as they’ve twice seen red in that same span (winning once and drawing once).

NYCFC has had their own struggles with consistency as of late, but have begun Torrent’s tenure on the right foot. After beginning 2018 unbeaten in their first seven matches, they are 4W-3L-2D in their last nine. Their away record has continued to look strong, playing to a 2W-3L-3D line that reflects the 13W-14L-7D combined mark after Patrick Vieira took over in 2016.

Jo Inge Berget may have at last broken out of his goal slump, netting two against a depleted Toronto FC defense last weekend. With David Villa out for at least this week, Berget will once again line up as City’s #9. In fact, we may (and should!) see an identical lineup to the one we saw last weekend. Torrent has commented that it will take about two weeks for him to implement his own touches to the club, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Share

Filed Under: NYCFC Tagged With: Chicago Fire, Chicago Fire SC, MLS 2018, New York City FC, NYCFC

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Storm is Brewing: Torrent, NYCFC Descend on Windy City - fcnews.nyc says:
    June 29, 2018 at 11:44 am

    […] BRIDGEVIEW, IL – Last season, Vejlko Paunovic turned his Chicago Fire SC around in a nearly worst-to-first fashion. The… NYCFC Nation: Storm is Brewing: Torrent, NYCFC Descend on Windy City […]

Primary Sidebar

Recent Podcast Episodes

Podcast Preview: NYCFC vs Orlando in Round One of MLS PLayoffs w/ Chris Magalee

Gritty, hard working, determined. Like this City.

Record Breaking Win for NYCFC in the Hudson River Derby

NYCFC Nation On Twitter

My Tweets

NYCFC Nation Newsletter

Subscribe to our e-newsletter!

We don't like spam and treat your privacy like our own.

Footer

Contact Us

Email: nycfcnetwork@gmail.com
Twitter: @NYCFCNation

What we do

Welcome the The NYCFC Nation. Independent New York City Football Club Coverage.

  • Subscribe to our podcast on...
  • Apple Podcasts
  • Stitcher
  • Spotify
  • Google Play
  • iHeartRadio

  • Social Media

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter

    Copyright © 2021 · The NYCFC Nation

    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • Instagram