Bridgeview, Ill. ? Michael de Leeuw scored in the 19th minute and the Chicago Fire made it stand for a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday night.

Razvan Cocis made a run up the left side and crossed it to de Leeuw for the close-range goal. Sean Johnson made two key saves for his third shutout of the season.

The 29-year-old de Leeuw was in his first MLS start and second overall appearance. He signed with the Fire (4-8-5) on May 18 after playing seven professional seasons in the Netherlands.

Kansas City (8-9-4) missed on a couple of opportunities in the first half. Dom Dwyer had a goal waved off by an offside call, and Jacob Peterson’s shot hit off the left post. Sporting was 3-0-2 in its last five starts coming into the match.

The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 40 minutes due to a storm in the area.