Bastian Schweinsteiger scored his first Chicago Fire goal just 17 minutes into his debut against the Montreal Impact.
The Chicago Fire raised plenty of eyebrows when they announced the signing of Bastian Schweinsteiger two weeks ago. The move was considered by many to be little more than a publicity stunt.
The German midfielder certainly has an impressive resume, but he’s 32, hasn’t played consistent first-team soccer for several seasons and has a worrying recent injury history. In addition, the Fire brought in two players, Dax McCarty and Juninho, who play his position during the offseason.
In his first match, Schweinsteiger proved his doubters wrong, at least temporarily. Fire manager Veljko Paunovic switched to a 4-3-3 to accommodate his three midfielders, with Schweinsteiger to the left of McCarty.
He started the game anonymously enough, but began to find more time and space as the contest wore on. He opened the scoring for Chicago in the 17th minute, heading in an excellent David Accam cross from close range.
The Fire are looking to make the MLS playoffs for the first time since 2012, and for only the second time in eight seasons. They’ve been the worst team in the league the past two seasons, but the early signs have been promising for Paunovic’s side in 2017.
Chicago won four points from their first two games, before getting thrashed by Atlanta United last time out. They could at least point to some bad luck in that one, as they conceded an own goal and had a man sent off in the first 10 minutes.
There’s still of course a long way to go before we can declare the Schweinsteiger signing a success, but his first half in a Fire shirt was certainly encouraging. The goal was the cherry on top of a solid all-around performance.