Chicago Fire Swarm Over DC United

Prior to Sunday's match, the Chicago Fire honored the 25th anniversary for the Chicago Sting's first Soccer Bowl Championship. The Fire then went out and showed the Sting and the fans at Toyota Park their own winning ways.

The Fire came out and played a very aggressive style of soccer. From the first whistle this game was a hotly contested match that saw a lot of tough tackles, many of which were late and dangerous. D.C. United committed 22 fouls to Chicago's 14 and earned six cards that led to the ejection of both Bryan Namoff and Joshua Gross before the game ended. Despite the rough play, the Fire were able to keep their cool and created many great scoring opportunities. It was in the 61st minute that first-half substitute Brian Plotkin, who came in for injured Nate Jacqua, made a picture-perfect pass that cut through the defense to a streaking Andy Herron, who managed to stay onside and slide a shot past United netminder Troy Perkins for the game winnner. The goal is nominated by Major League Soccer for Goal of the Week. You can view the goal and place your vote for the Goal of the Week on MLSNet.com.

The Chicago Fire are the hottest team in Major League Soccer right now, having gone 6-1-1 in the past month in Major League Soccer. The recent record is an even more impressive 9-1-1 if you include U.S. Open Cup tournament matches. The Fire, perhaps taking inspiration from the Sting, have their own chance to collect some new hardware on September 27th when they take on the Los Angeles Galaxy in the 2006 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Championship. The Fire are also close to clinching a spot in the Major League Soccer playoffs.

Photos provided by Todd McClamroch.