D.C. United extended their unbeaten run to six games on Saturday night, crushing the Chicago fire 6-2 and finally giving their fans—who’ve watched them settle for draws after blowing early leads or being forced to crawl back into games—something to cheer about.

Aided by a first-half red card, D.C. rolled to their highest goal tally since August 2015. It’s a good thing they won, too—seventh-place Orlando City FC emerged victorious on Sunday, keeping pace with sixth-place United, who remain just a single point above the playoff line.

Patrick Mullins, hat trick hero. Photos by Pablo Iglesias Maurer.

The Good: Patrick Mullins. More specifically, the chemistry between Mullins and Luciano Acosta. D.C. acquired Mullins in a mid-season trade with New York City FC, and the former Maryland Terp has five goals and an assist in the seven games since.

None of his goals on Saturday were by any means spectacular, but all three demonstrated a savviness that’s been missing from United’s lineup all year long. His first strike was a lovely 12-yard effort towards the far post. He was well-positioned on his second strike, a nice combination with Acosta, who finished the evening with three assists—tying the United record for assists in a single game.

“[His third goal] was a great example [of the chemistry he’s building with us,]” D.C. captain Bobby Boswell told DCist after the match. “The cross from Sean—if you watch it, Sean takes a touch and it’s like [Patrick] knows that it’s going there and the timing is perfect. I think as he learns everyone’s timing—and he is learning that—[you’ll see] he’s pretty lethal with his left foot.”

His hat trick on Saturday was a rarity though. You have to go pretty far back, to pre-college, to find a three-goal appearance by Mullins.

“Honestly I don’t even remember when,” said Mullins. “It was an exciting moment, one I wanted to take in, and it was a special night for me, and obviously for this team, to get three points. So it was a fun one to share with RFK. I’m not going to forget this one.”

The Bad: The Chicago Fire. The Chicago Fire are very bad. D.C. did just about everything right on Saturday, but let’s not forget that the Chicago Fire are by no means a good soccer team.

After a historic road victory last week against Montreal (I say historic because the Fire hadn’t won a single road game in two years), Chicago slid back into their old form against United, struggling to string passes together and demonstrating a level of defensive incompetence that most teams would struggle to match even if they tried to.

Don’t tell that to Fire head coach Veljko Paunović, though. The former Serbian international didn’t seem too discouraged by the four-goal loss.

“I think our guys did their best and I want to congratulate them on that,” said Paunović, who apparently spent the evening watching a different soccer game. “It’s very important to us to give that message to all our rivals—that we’re going to do our best even in a situation like today where we had ten men on the field. It’s a hard loss, it is, but we learn from our mistakes, we believe that a team in the process of becoming a champion has to lose games like this. It happens to everyone.”

The Ugly: Khaly Thiam’s red card. Thiam deserves to get an additional two or three games for hurling the ball directly at Patrick Nyarko’s head. It’s worth noting that Nyarko has suffered five documented concussions during his time in MLS.

And finally, the highlights:

Filed Under: Chicago Fire, DC United, DCU, MLS, Patrick Mullins,