D.C. United did not get the boost they were looking for heading into the MLS Cup Playoffs, falling 3-2 to the Chicago Fire in the season finale Sunday afternoon at RFK Stadium.
Goals three minutes apart midway through the first half through Gonzalo Segares and Nate Jaqua gave the Fire an unassailable lead, and while Christian Gomez scored a goal in each half, Andy Herron added one for the visitors - after having an earlier penalty saved - as United continued to limp into the postseason.
From the outset, the Fire were the aggressors. As early as the third minute, Chris Rolfe had acres of space to run in nearly alone on goal before uncorking a low, well-hit drive to the far post. But Nick Rimando, deputizing for an ill Troy Perkins in the United goal, got down quickly to parry the goalbound effort with his right hand.
But less than three minutes later, referee Baldomero Toledo's penalty call gave Chicago a tremendous opportunity to jump in front after Brian Carroll bundled over Ivan Guerrero inside the area as the two raced after an angled through ball.
However, Rimando came up with another clutch stop to rescue his team, flinging himself to his right to palm Herron's spot kick wide of the goalpost, then smother the loose ball as RFK erupted. The Costa Rican's shot was well-placed but short on velocity, allowing Rimando to make the most of his reflexes and keep the match scoreless.
The home side responded to the scare with quicker, more imaginative passing and weaved together several promising strings of possession around Chicago's penalty area, but no one in a black jersey could threaten Matt Pickens with a shot on goal and it was the Fire who found the net at the other end, going ahead 1-0 thanks to the head of Segares.
Justin Mapp floated down the right wing before cutting back onto his cultured left foot to curl in a cross to the far post. Segares outraced Matias Donnet from the left flank and took advantage of Brian Namoff's slip to power home an uncontested header from close range, quieting the home crowd.
Things got worse for D.C. just three minutes later as Segares reached the United endline and cut back to Guerrero, who looped another searching cross into the box that found an astonishingly unmarked Jaqua at the far post. United's back line had somehow lost track of the tall striker, and he easily sidefooted his shot past Rimando to double Chicago's advantage.
United have been desperately short of form and momentum in recent weeks, and going 2-0 down to their bogey team at home made their situation that much bleaker. But as he has done so often since arriving from Argentina two years ago, Gomez popped up to give his team a crucial lift with a classy goal 10 minutes after Jaqua's finish.
Moreno began the sequence and Adu continued it with a diagonal pass to his team's playmaker just inside the Chicago box, but the final inspiration was all Gomez as he executed a quick pullback and lifted a curling chip over Pickens and into the far upper corner to cut D.C.'s deficit in half.
Having found so much success with service from the wings so far, the Fire were raining crosses into the United box at every opportunity and Rolfe should have given his side a third tally when he chested one down inside the D.C. six-yard box in the 37th minute, only to harmlessly loop his shot over the crossbar.
United coach Peter Nowak signaled the urgency of his team's situation with a double substitution to start the second half, bringing on Ben Olsen for Donnet for more industry in the midfield and replacing Rod Dyachenko with Alecko Eskandarian to add more menace up front.
Their entrance contributed to an elevated tempo but few clear chances for the home side until well after the hour mark, when the match's intensity picked up and took on a postseason taste with increasingly heavy challenges and aggressive attacking play.
Olsen tried to test Pickens with a firm blast from distance in the 66th minute, but the effort flew straight into the lanky 'keeper's arms. Then Josh Gros made a lung-bursting run down the left flank after Moreno released him with a well-played one-two in the 67th minute, then cut a low cross into Eskandarian's path.P
The United striker found himself with time and space to shoot in the box as his marker Tony Sanneh fell down on the play, but his drive to the near post took a double deflection off Pickens' hands and the post.
Chicago was trying to counter the constant menace of Gomez every time he took possession, and he almost punished them in the 70th minute with a bending, long-distance free kick that took a deflection on the way towards goal. But Pickens quickly shuffled to his left to punch the spinning ball away from the top corner.
Then Chicago pressed forward with a quick, devastating combination down their right flank to create an all-important third goal. Second-half sub Calen Carr found Jaqua, who passed to Guerrero, who slotted a quick ball for Herron at the top of the United box, and the striker atoned for his first-half penalty miss with a stunning blast that bulleted past Rimando and into the roof of the net.
With his team in dire straits, Gomez continued to labor admirably, further elevating his game in a desperate attempt to inspire a late fightback. He cracked another quality free kick to force another timely punch from Pickens, then the Argentinian set up Gros with a glorious cross from the left, only for the D.C. winger to glance his diving header wide from close range.
Finally, yet again, Gomez gave his side new life in the 82nd minute. Adu found him with a chipped ball into the box and the United No. 10 drilled a low drive just past Pickens' outstretched arm to glance off the base of the far post and into the net.
To their credit, his teammates never lost hope and continued to press forward as time ticked away, and should have been rewarded with an astonishing injury-time equalizer - only for Olsen to be cruelly denied by the woodwork.
Clyde Simms, who had come on in place of the tired Gomez, rose well to nod down Gros' cross at the far post, finding Olsen making a late run into the box. The U.S. international chested the ball down and spun to his left to toe-poke an off-balance shot that floated past Pickens but clanged off the crossbar, saving the three points for Chicago and piling further doubts on United with the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Red Bulls less than a week away.
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
