MLS Tickets - DC United 1, Chicago 0 by Brent Warnken

Although D.C. United has struggled on the road for the past two seasons, the club has found Chicago to be their home away from home. Bryan Namoff's header in the 11th minute was the only goal scored during the game, while Goalkeeper Josh Wicks made several key saves as D.C. picked up three much-needed points on the road by defeating the Chicago Fire 1-0. Get MLS tickets and see Namoff score a goal. United (7-5-11) has gone 4-16-8 on the road since the beginning of the 2008 season, but is 3-0-1 in that span at Toyota Park. United coach Tom Soehn said he was pleased with the defensive effort. The coach continued to say that his club played with more urgency going into the match. The team knew they had success in this building before and desperately needed the three points.

D.C. ended a four-game winless streak with their first road victory since April 26, and the club moved into fourth place in the Eastern Conference. United also snapped a nine-game road winless streak. Wicks stated that the Fire threw everything at his team, including the kitchen sink. The goalkeeper, who finished with six saves, proclaimed they are a good team. He said D.C. was putting the pieces together and the defense was very solid. United entered the match allowing an MLS-worst 26 road goals. During the final minutes of the game, Wicks and defender Dejan Jakovic had to be separated by teammates because of miscommunication that occurred on a free kick which almost gave Chicago (10-6-8) a goal. Soehn told the press it was just a flare-up due to "emotions of the game."

The Fire fell to 4-4-4 at home, and missed the golden opportunity to overtake reigning MLS champion Columbus atop the conference. After the game, Chicago coach Denis Hamlett said he was disappointed. The coach stated that his club had some opportunities and created good chances, but could not execute on their chances. Namoff, a native of Illinois, ran into the penalty area and hammered a free kick from 35 yards out. The ball went on the right side past Christian Gomez, and found its way into the lower left corner from just outside the 6-yard box. Namoff said the play was something his team had been working on in practice. The midfielder had 15 family members at the match. He said he ran around a couple of picks to create some space between him and Gomez, but the ball deflected off of Gomez and worked out perfectly for United.

Namoff's goal ended a 194-minute scoreless streak for D.C. dating to the 87th minute of their 4-3 loss at Houston on August 1. Although Chicago had earned eight corner kicks and outshot United 17-5, they failed to register a goal. The team is tied for the worst in the MLS with 11 goals at home. The fire played without injured starting defenders William Conde and Gonzalo Segares. Chicago was missing defender Dasan Robinson because he was suspended after picking up his second yellow card on August 30 for celebrating his winning goal.

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