A week and a half after coming from behind to beat the Chicago Fire at home, the DC United fell short of duplicating that feat in Chicago. Despite a long period off, a recent return to winning form and the breaking of their road-scoring curse, DC fell 4-3 in the Windy City last night.

“We gave away the first half,” said United coach Peter Nowak. Chicago’s Nate Jaqua traded early goals with Christian Gomez, but, overall, the Fire played with more energy and aggression during the period – DC exhibiting more rustiness than restfulness. Chicago was held off from scoring again through the majority of the half, but in the waning minutes, United defensive breakdowns resulted in capitalizing opportunities for Chicago. Chicago got the lead back in the 40th minute when Chris Rolfe was taken down in the box, leading to a PK score for Jesse Marsch. A minute later, Brandon Prideaux, finding himself trapped in his own corner, attempted to clear the ball out into the center of the field with disastrous results. Prideaux’s errant attempt came right to Chicago’s Thiago, who happily put it in the net, sending D.C. out of the period down 3-1.