The Chicago Fire apparently have the formula to win at RFK Stadium.
They bent a little, never leaked and took advantage of their opportunities to hold back D.C. United in a 2-0 victory on a slick turf at the venerable old grounds.
The Fire continued their stifling defensive play and jumped one point ahead of Columbus into first place in the Eastern Conference after seven games. Their 5-1-1 record surpasses the team's best seven-game start in team history (5-2, 1999).
Chicago head coach Denis Hamlett employed the same 4-5-1 formation as he did in the Fire's 3-0 victory over New England last Saturday, dropping Chris Rolfe back into the midfield alongside Cuauhtemoc Blanco with Chad Barrett running as the lone wolf up top.
Chicago has now outscored its opponents 7-1 on the road this season.
Blanco impacted the match in multiple ways, including his third goal of the season just past the hour mark to seal the game for the visiting Fire.
Blanco did not take long to earn the scorn of the United faithful, rolling around the wet turf after getting tangled up with defender Bryan Namoff in the sixth minute. Blanco had enough energy, however, to share a few words with Namoff and referee Terry Vaughn, who did not call a foul on the sequence.
Vaughn set a tight standard early, whistling numerous fouls on both sides, including a foul by Diego Gutierrez on Franco Niell that lead to a solid free kick opportunity from 33 yards out in the eighth minute. The slumping Luciano Emilio stepped up to take the kick but caught just enough of the Fire wall to deflect the ball harmlessly away from goal.
The match was a tale of two halves, with United controlling the first before a definitive switch in the second.
Despite being without Marcelo Gallardo, their creative engine in the midfield, and Fred, a high-energy and skillful player on the flank, United matriculated the ball up the field crisply, forcing the Fire to chase the game during a sloppily played first stanza.
United attacked relentlessly from the left flank but were consistently repelled by Chicago's solid defensive structure. As they have done successfully in several recent visits to Washington, the Fire were content with sitting deep in their defensive third of the field and playing for the counterattack.
Consequently, United had several opportunities, though very few were perilously dangerous.
United had the first threat at goal by either team but Clyde Simms' right footed blast from 28-yards straight away swerved just wide of the left post in the 15th minute after striker Luciano Emilio did well to hold the ball in a crowd.
Emilio took a crack of his own in the 20th minute, creating a nook of space before smashing a right-footed shot well over the net from 20 yards out.
In the 39th minute, the formula that has worked for the Fire in many of those previous matches reared its way to the forefront as the Fire capitalized on their first legitimate opportunity.
Barrett out-jumped Namoff on a Rolfe cross from the right flank, knocking the ball down to an inexplicably wide-open Justin Mapp. His clinical left-footed finish from 17 yards out beat a diving Zach Wells for a 1-0 lead.
Blanco nearly increased the lead four minutes later after getting through Namoff again, but his near-post ball skidded away from Barrett, who could not get the final touch on the close-range opportunity.
Rod Dyachenko tested Busch with a skidding shot from 20 yards out in the 50th minute, but the veteran 'keeper swallowed it up with relative ease.
The Fire countered with a superb opportunity three minutes later when Barrett fed a running Mapp down the left flank. Mapp drove a low cross into the six yard box as the ball took a lucky bounce off Dyachenko, directly to Barrett 10 yards out.
Segares nearly extended the lead in the 59th minute after slipping nicely behind the United defense on a crafty ball by Mapp, but his left-footed shot from the left side of the penalty area slipped just wide of the far post.
The Fire's efforts were rewarded two minutes later, however, on a sensational goal by Blanco to make the score 2-0. The Mexican superstar sashayed his way through the porous United defense before bending a left footed shot from 27 yards out on the left side that Wells got his hand on, but not enough to knock it away from the upper far corner, netting Blanco his third goal of the season.
United certainly didn't quit despite the reversal of the flow of play in the second half. Jaime Moreno, who dropped into the attacking midfield role for Gallardo, flicked a header just wide in the 83rd minute from a step inside the six-yard box on a cross from Niell from the left touch-line.
Two minutes later, the Bolivian veteran rose up again to knock a Marc Birch corner kick directly off the crossbar from six yards out near the front post.
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