D.C. United fought back to keep their unbeaten streak alive, Alecko Eskandarian coming off the bench and getting a 74th-minute equalizer for a 1-1 tie against a 10-man Chicago Fire at Toyota Park on Saturday night in a match that featured a playoff-type intensity.
Nate Jaqua had come off the bench to give the Fire a lead after 29 minutes, but then early in the second half, Logan Pause was sent off with a second yellow card. Eskandarian, who came on to start the second half as United head coach Peter Nowak tried to turn around the Fire's high pressure, scored the equalizer 16 minutes from the end to lengthen United's run to 14 games without a loss.
For the opening five minutes, D.C. was pinned back on its heels, hardly getting out of its own half. Despite the dominant by the Fire, United was doing well to repel the attack until a near costly mistake by United defender Bryan Namoff as he had his pocket picked by Chicago midfielder Ivan Guerrero.
The only advantage United had was holding their line defensively, catching Fire striker Andy Herron offside twice in the 13 minutes he played before suffering a strained left hamstring. The injury forced Fire head coach Dave Sarachan to go to the bench, and the United defenders would instead have to contend with All-Star striker Jaqua.
Nineteen minutes into the contest, things started to get heated when Ben Olsen reacted to Pause after a vicious tackle along the sideline which earned the Fire midfielder his first yellow card. Fire defender C.J. Brown and Olsen then erupted into a loud tirade that surprisingly didn't garner a card for either.
In the 28th minute, Olsen would again be a part of the action, this time making a bad tackle to give the Fire a free kick near the left sideline some 24 yards from goal.
The Fire's Diego Gutierrez bent the ball into the box where United 'keeper Troy Perkins made the attempt to punch it out and missed, after an aggressive challenge by Fire captain Chris Armas. The ball slipped through and fell right to Jaqua, who poked it home with his right boot to put the Fire into the lead.
It was the first time since May 20 that United had fallen behind in a game, and just the third time all season they trailed.
Tempers flared once again in stoppage time when Olsen received a yellow card for a hard tackle. Defender Bobby Boswell this time got into a shouting match as a result and United headed into the break with emotions running high.
But six minutes into the second half, United caught a break when Pause made a lapse in judgment to gain his second caution of the night, slapping at the ball as Freddy Adu set to take a throw-in, and earning his marching orders from referee Kevin Stott.
In the 66th minute, midfielder Christian Gomez sent in a beautiful cross off a free kick that would set up a barrage of chances. Eskandarian got a head on the ball, sending it goalward only to see it somehow stay out. The rebound came back to him and this time his volley bounced off Zach Thornton and rolled goalward, only for defender Dasan Robinson to race back and clear the ball off the line.
The Chicago defenders and 'keeper endured two more shots from United -- one more by Eskandarian -- before they were able to clear.
Yet in the 74th minute, Eskandarian collected a pass from Christian Gomez at the top of the box, after a left-to-right movement across the top of the area. The third-year striker spun around Fire defender Gonzalo Segares with a neat move, burying a left-footed shot inside Thornton's right-hand post for the equalizer.
Eskandarian later came close with a long shot from distance, putting it over the bar, as did Adu in the 82nd minute, also just putting it over the frame.
But United still had to survive a couple of opportunities. Thiago won a free kick right on the edge of the area, but although he hit the resulting restart well, he curled it around the wall right at Perkins.
Then in the 84th minute Jaqua raced in alone on an angle on the right after a defensive mixup, but Perkins did well to cut down the angle, kicking the shot aside to ensure United's unbeaten streak would be extended to 14 games, now just four away from the MLS record.
Jack Daniel Chavez is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
