The Fire lose to D.C United and drop fourth game in a row originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
After Christian Benteke scored to put D.C. United up 1-0 against the Chicago Fire, a graphic appeared on the screen stating the fire failed to win their last 16 matches when conceding first.
That number is now at 17 following the Fire’s 4-0 loss to Wayne Rooney’s D.C. United.
Not only was it the Fire’s fourth consecutive defeat but it meant that the Fire dropped out of the final playoff spot to D.C. United.
Benteke was D.C. United’s best player as he made short work of the Fire defense time and time again. In addition to the two goals, Benteke also had an assist, setting up the second for Ted Ku-DiPietro.
The third goal perfectly summed up how things have been going for the Fire since coming back from the Leagues Cup. Carlos Teran brought down Ku-DiPietro for a penalty. But as Teran went down, the ball hit his foot before deflecting off the other for an own goal.
It looked like D.C. United was going to have to settle for just the three first half goals but Benteke closed out his night with his brace in the final minutes of the game as the Fire were once again caught out.
Kei Kamara continued his search for goal 145 to tie Landon Donovan for second place in the MLS all-time leading scorer. Kamara had a shot near the penalty spot in the 38th minute that was saved by the goalkeeper, Alex Bono. Moments later, Kamara had a header that went just wide.
The Fire’s next opportunity wouldn’t come until the 54th minute when Ousmane Doumbia put Brian Gutierrez through on goal, but whose shot sailed well wide of the mark. The next came in the 78th minute through Gaston Gimenez who also saw his shot go just wide.
It was simply that kind of night for the Fire.
With the loss, the Fire no longer depend on themselves if they want to get into the MLS playoffs. The match against D.C. United could have seen the Fire put some breathing space between them. Instead, they’ve been overtaken by D.C. United.
The Fire need to switch things around and fortunately for manager Frank Klopas, he’ll get some time to do so as the Fire’s next game isn’t until Sept. 16 when they face CF Montréal.
