Katai helps Chicago Fire to 3-2 win over New York City FC

Would the Chicago Fire have won Saturday night's game against New York City FC without Aleksandar Katai?

"I mean, maybe, maybe not," Fire captain Dax McCarty said after the Fire's 3-2 victory. "He scored two great goals. He's a match winner. He's been a match winner for us for the past couple of months, and he's in just tremendous form right now.

"When you've got a guy who's as hot as he is right now, creating chances, scoring goals the way he is, you've got to get him the ball."

Whether the Fire will be able to get 27-year-old Serbian midfielder the ball the rest of the season is unclear, however. Katai is on loan from Spanish side Deportivo Alaves, and that loan is believed to expire after Saturday's game. There was no word from the Fire whether it will extend Katai's loan or buy out his contract.

If there was any doubt about Katai's worth before the game, it was forgotten afterward. He ran his streak with a goal or an assist to eight straight games. He has 8 goals on the season.

"Definitely, his individual quality helped in this game," said Fire coach Veljko Paunovic, who benched Katai for a couple of games early in the season. "This is something that we always demand from him and I think that he's showing up more consistently in the last month, definitely."

The Fire scored first, with McCarty sending Nemanja Nikolic behind the NYCFC defense for a breakaway goal. NYCFC bounced back with two goals after the first-half hydration break for a 2-1 halftime lead.

Enter Katai.

First he curled a beautiful shot around former Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson to tie the game in the 47th minute. Five minutes later he left two NYCFC defenders sprawled on the ground trying to figure out how Katai dribbled past them before deftly beating an onrushing Johnson again.

The Fire announced a crowd of 15,204 fans for the game, but that figure included many from its supporter groups who boycotted a second straight game. The boycott began after the Fire revoked the season tickets of everyone in one of those supporter groups, Sector Latino, for repeated violations of the MLS and team fan code of conduct.

Back on the field the Fire was outshot 19-5 and outpossessed 68-32 percent.

"We struggled. We struggled mightily to keep possession, and on a hot day, I mean, you're just going to wear yourself out if can't do that," said McCarty, credited with 2 assists on the night. "It was alarming how much we just lost the ball so easily and basically let them step on the field and dictate the entire game."

With the victory the Fire (6-7-5, 23 points) moved into playoff position, passing the Philadelphia Union for sixth place in the East.