Football
2019 Major League Soccer, Regular Season
CHI 
4
FT
 COL
1
Reuters 5y

Chicago Fire dominate second half to thrash Colorado Rapids

C.J. Sapong scored the go-ahead goal in the 53rd minute as the host Chicago Fire tallied three times in the second half to post a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids on Saturday afternoon in Bridgeview, Ill.

Nemanja Nikolic scored in his third straight match, Aleksandar Katai collected a goal and an assist and Djordje Mihailovic also tallied for the Fire (2-2-3).

Nicolas Gaitan notched a pair of assists and David Ousted finished with one save as Chicago improved to 2-0-2 in its last four matches overall and 17-4-2 at home against Colorado.

Kei Kamara scored in his fourth consecutive contest and veteran goalkeeper Tim Howard made one save for the Rapids (0-6-2), who have lost five straight matches.

Colorado defender Tommy Smith was unsuccessful in his gamble for the ball, allowing Katai to race in from the right wing before approaching the goal. Katai then sent a centering feed to a sliding Sapong, who redirected the ball into the net to give the Fire a 2-1 lead in the 53rd minute.

Mihailovic doubled the advantage eight minutes later after cleaning up Gaitan's off-balance bid for his first goal of the season. The touch was the last of the day for Mihailovic, who exited in the 62nd minute in favor of Mohammed Adams.

Katai capped the scoring in the 80th minute with a blast from well outside the box for his first goal of the season.

After converting a penalty kick to help Chicago record a 1-1 draw versus Vancouver last Saturday, Nikolic opened the scoring in the 34th minute by heading home a brilliant bending cross from Gaitan.

Kamara answered six minutes later, heading home a corner kick to forge a 1-1 tie with his team-leading fifth goal of the season.

Katai had a pair of chances in a short sequence to open the scoring, but his initial left-footed shot from in close was blocked in the 26th minute before his follow-up bid caromed off the crossbar.

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