Chicago Fire Midfielder Nicolás Gaitán Voted MLS Player of the Week

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.