Chicago Fire's Nemanja Nikolic wins MLS Golden Boot award with 24 goals

Chicago Fire striker Nemanja Nikolic has won the MLS Golden Boot with 24 goals in his first season in the league.

Nikolic made a late surge to score the most goals in the league, surpassing New York City FC's David Villa, who led the race most of the season and finished second with 22 goals.

Portland's Diego Valeri finished third with 21, while Atlanta's Josef Martinez scored 19 and Montreal's Ignacio Piatti had 17.

Nikolic, 29, joined Chicago before this season from Polish club Legia Warsaw, though his signing flew somewhat under the radar amid the Fire's acquisition of Bastian Schweinsteiger.

The Hungary international took control in the Golden Boot race by scoring a hat trick last week against Philadelphia, his first treble of the season.

He scored eightgoals in his past seven games to surge ahead of the other contenders.