D.C. United scored twice in three minutes in the first half, including Christian Benteke’s MLS-leading 18th goal of the season, to notch a 2-1 win over the host Chicago Fire on Saturday.
The victory moved United (8-12-8, 32 points), who has won four of its past five matches, into the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Fire (6-14-8, 26 points) are winless in their past four games and have just one win in their past seven (1-4-2).
It was a slow start for both sides, with neither team able to muster much of an attack. D.C. held a slight edge in play in the attacking third but struggled to generate, with just two shot attempts through 20 minutes, while Chicago had none.
In the 26th minute, United broke through and took a 1-0 lead courtesy of Benteke. Mateusz Klich collected a throw-in from Pedro Santos down low on the left side and lobbed it to Benteke high in the box. Benteke then settled the ball and sent it through the legs of Chicago defender Andrew Gutman before it deflected off defender Wyatt Omsberg and redirected past the right foot of goalkeeper Chris Brady.
Gabriel Pirani made it 2-0 three minutes later when he took a pass from Klich outside the box and went a few strides in before firing it between a pair of defenders into the far side of the net.
By the 36th minute, D.C. held a 7-0 advantage in shot attempts.
The Fire, who have scored only seven goals in the first half this season, showed some life in the 40th minute with their first quality chance of the match when Kellyn Acosta’s shot from the arc hit the left post.
Chicago started to put the pressure on in the second half and was rewarded in the 54th minute off a corner. After Maren Haile-Selassie served into the box, United defender Lucas Bartlett tried to clear it with a header, but the ball went to Gutman outside the box for a screaming shot that cut it to 2-1.
–Field Level Media