Chicago Fire Midfielder Nicolás Gaitán Voted MLS Player of the Week
NEW YORK
(Monday, May 13, 2019)
– Chicago Fire midfielder Nicolás Gaitán was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week for the 11
th
week of the 2019 MLS season.
Gaitán garnered two goals and two assists in a pair of Fire victories last week. Chicago first defeated the New England Revolution 5-0 at SeatGeek Stadium on Wednesday behind a goal and two assists from Gaitán, before capitalizing on another goal from the Argentine in a 2-0 victory over Minnesota United FC on Saturday. Gaitán has two goals and four assists in nine appearances for Chicago this season, with the club compiling a 3-0-0 record in matches where he factors into a goal. The Fire sit tied for sixth in the Eastern Conference with 16 points (4-4-4 overall record) and maintain a three-game unbeaten streak.
Gaitán assisted on two Nemanja Nikolić goals in Wednesday’s victory, the first coming in the 28
th
minute off a free kick for a Nikolić diving header (
watch assist
). Chicago took a 2-0 lead in the 40
th
minute off another Nikolić header, this time with Gaitán assisting off a corner kick (
watch assist
). Gaitán furthered Chicago’s lead to 4-0 in the 85
th
minute with a tap in goal off a counterattack from the Fire (
watch goal
).
The Argentine National Team midfielder continued his scoring ways on Saturday against Minnesota, scoring the game’s first goal in the 21
st
minute in a masterclass counterattack display from Chicago. Gaitán received a pass from Przemysław Frankowski directly in front of goal then fooled the goalkeeper with a fake to set up an empty net tap in (
watch goal
).
The Fire return to action on Saturday when traveling to face the San Jose Earthquakes at Avaya Stadium (3:30 p.m. ET, Univision / Twitter).
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
