Mihailovic returned over the last month from ACL surgery and has fit in quite well to the Fire’s attack. He scored an incredible volleykick and assisted on another in leading Chicago past visiting LAFC 3-1 at Toyota Park on Saturday afternoon.
“He’s growing and I’m very happy for him being focused out there,” Chicago Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic said. “Scoring a goal and he had a great performance. He’s growing and still needs to learn. We will always encourage him and push forward. We want him always to have his feet on the ground because he’s young and after one game they have the world. They have it and they have to be respectful for everyone, for the club and his teammates. He’s doing great and we just have to figure out who we are and what we have to do to become the best we have to be.
“In case of him, he has good understanding and knows his role on and off the field and in the locker room. He knows how to deal and respect the older players. More so, the players that have more experience and that’s more important. If he learns from them and then gives support back.”
On Milhailovic’s goal that started the scoring in favor of the Fire, he took a cross from outside the box off the leg Brandon Vincent and laced a shot right into the back of the net in the 20th minute.
“I saw the space open at the top of the box,” Mihailovic said. “Brandon played a great ball in. All I had to do was to connect it. He was the one that had to do all the hard work and I think it was great to get on the score sheet. Every day before the game we practice crossing and finishing. It was just routine for me.”
The return for Mihailovic was helped with another Fire player in Michael de Leeuw, who also was recovering from a major injury around the same time.
“I think with the 10 months with recovery and being with (Michael) de Leeuw,” Mihailovic added. “You learn a lot from veterans how well they live off the field as well as on. I think staying with all these guys helps me better.
He also added an assist later in the match feeding a ball off to Aleksander Katai for the final goal in the second half. But with his work ethic, he’s gaining more and more confidence on the pitch.
“I think it’s important in every day training and in every game,” Mihailovic. said. “I feel more confident in my knee and with playing again. Especially with the team, using me as a player that they need. In each game you can see that I’m improving. With the injury it made me look at the game in a different way and watching from outside, you pick up more than actually if you in training. So I think it helped me.”
Getting some insights from coach Paunovic has also led Mihailovic into the right direction in what expected from him for now and into the future.
“He expects me to be a team player and work hard defensively before anything. Mihailovic added. “That’s what happened here today, interceptions led to goals.”
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