One wonders what DC United Coach Tom Soehn said to his team at halftime. Down 1-0 after dominating possession in the first half, without two banged up star midfielders, but at home against a tough but beatable Chicago Fire team, did he make tactical changes? Did he exhort the players to make the second half a turning point in the season? Did he pull misfiring forward (and reigning MVP) Luciano Emilio aside and give him a little confidence boost?

Whatever he said, it didn’t work at all. United turned in a poor second half performance, mustering few scoring opportunities and committing turnover after turnover in its defensive half en route to a 2-0 home loss to the Fire. Where the first half contained some bright spells of possession, with Clyde Simms helping swing the ball from left to right and captain Jaime Moreno getting into some dangerous positions, but DC never forced Chicago keeper Jon Busch into a save. At the other end, the Fire had offered comparatively little in possession or creativity — except a jinking run and low shot from former DCU youngster Justin Mapp — but like most MLS teams, they just kind of wait around and take what you give them. In the 38th minute, United gave Chris Rolfe space to serve an accurate, deep ball into the box and then gave Mapp enough time to stop, look up, sip a cup of tea, and then fire his 15 yard shot past Zach Wells.