United Swipes Back First Place, Beats Chicago 2-1

Chicago pushed forward early with longballs through the midfield. Fire striker Patrick Nyarko was using his considerable speed to get around right back Bryan Namoff on a consistent basis -- but the service was never of the quality to put him completely through on Josh Wicks. On the other end, Quaranta had an excellent chance in the fifth minute. Some nice footwork weaved Gomez through traffic, and his wide pass found Tino. After a nice one-two with Moreno, Quaranta had a toe poke, but forced it just high and wide.

United seemed determined to break Chicago's tightly-packed midfield down -- frustratingly so, in some cases. Since the two teams were so evenly matched, both sides found penetration into the final third hard to come by. A set piece from about thirty yards out in the 22nd was the tonic. Marc Burch initially blasted into the wall, but the rebound came right to the feet of Jaime Moreno. His lofted cross into the box was taken down by Chris Pontius and pushed just wide -- but the referee pointed to the spot, as he adjudged Fire keeper Jon Busch to have fouled Pontius on his follow through. There was little doubt as Moreno smoked his fifth goal of the season past Burch.

Chicago answered back in the 33rd, after United had allowed far too much space. Marco Pappa was the recipient of the ball just inside the box, and he delicately placed a shot that sailed past the outstretched arms of Wicks.

Moreno was back into the starting lineup for the first time in three games -- he would be relied upon to supply some offensive power due to the suspension of Luciano Emilio after last Thursday's water bottle antics. Unfortunately, after scoring the game's opening goal on a penalty kick, Moreno had to leave the game in the 39th with muscle spasms. Things seemed to be spiraling downward for United at that point -- what to do?

As Soehn said after the game, "get Christian more involved."

Minutes after Chicago equalized, Pontius drew a foul -- and some blood for his trouble -- on the edge of the Fire penalty box. Gomez stepped up and laid down a perfect direct kick, beating Busch and making the score 2-1.

The second half began with Wicks saving United's lead not once, not twice, but thrice. The big man, whose form of late has been superb, saved a point blank one-on-one from Conde and again Nyarko on a 50/50 ball. The referee -- who to this point was having an awful time trying to keep things under control -- awarded a penalty on the save. Why? Who knows. But what we do know is that Wicks kept his nerve and denied McBride from the spot, comfortably shifting to his right.

On the two dubious penalty calls, the manager put on a wry smile, saying, "I think they evened each other out."

After that initial flurry, it was United in the ascendancy. Although Chicago was still getting on the ball, United -- in particular, Pontius -- was finding more and more space to cut through. Inge N'Silu, Gomez, Khumalo, and Quaranta all had chances to ice the game, but for reasons ranging from poor finishing to the woodwork, couldn't close the deal. It was a tense last few minutes, but United kept it cool to wrap up the three points -- vital, as they embark on a near continuous, two-month road trip through the MLS gauntlet.

It's first place for now, but the side now looks forward. As Gomez said, "at home, we always have to win. We're feeling good about ourselves to go on the road and play these next games coming up."