Unlike the previous two meetings between the two teams, Saturday night's match at Soldier Field between the Chicago Fire and D.C. United started out sluggishly. Although they traded 4-3 victories in their prior two encounters, both clubs struggled to find a rhythm in their first post-All-Star break games.
Yet it was little wonder that a wide-open affair materialized over the final 12 minutes, as United barely held on for a 3-2 victory against the top club in the Eastern Conference.
D.C. United came out by looking to break on the counter, and the approach obviously frustrated the Fire.
"It took us awhile to get going tonight. D.C. sat back and that made it hard for us to play," Fire head coach Dave Sarachan said. "But still we never got our attack going and the ball wasn't moving as quick as we'd like ... That's the way D.C. plays.
"But we didn't have a good enough answer for them, to be honest. I think that part of the reason was when the ball turned over, we weren't close enough to their players. We dropped off and allowed them room to go. We didn't execute [the plays] very well and they did a good job of it."
This lack of execution allowed United to score a crucial goal right before halftime in the 40th minute. It was scored by Brian Carroll, his first-ever MLS goal, on a beautiful setup from Jaime Moreno and Christian Gomez, and heading into the halftime break with the lead was crucial for United.
United carried most of the play following the break, and was able to double their lead in the 72nd minute on a goal by midfielder Dema Kovalenko, with the majority of the work attributable to Santino Quaranta, who steamed forward on a solid run into the Fire box.
D.C. certainly thought they put the game away in the 78th minute when Moreno converted a penalty kick to go up 3-0, but fortunately for the hometown supporters, the excitement was just beginning.
Subsitute Lubos Reiter scored off a scramble in front in the 83rd minute, and Chris Rolfe followed with a header in the 88th minute off of a great cross from defender Ivan Guerrero. But despite one more terrific chance on another clear header from Rolfe off a Guerrero cross, the Fire couldn't find the equalizer.
"Being down 3-0 is a tough situation, but I will reiterate that this is a team that doesn't quit. We got ourselves going and pushed the game at the end," Sarachan said. "That part of it is a high note, but it is still a tough loss for our team."
Captain Chris Armas concurred: "It's embarrassing for us to be down 3-0. We showed a spark and some life and made it interesting, but certainly not good enough. I thought we had a chance and we did. We plugged away until the end, but we just dug our hole too deep."
Regardless of the Fire's disappointment, it was a great road win for D.C. United.
"We can take some lessons from this too. We had a 3-0 lead and we have to do a better job of keeping the lead," veteran midfielder Ben Olsen said. "But we're going to enjoy the win and hopefully forget about it tomorrow, and then it's on to the MetroStars. We just need to keep building up the points so we can peak towards the playoffs."
Toby True is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
