For 25 minutes, D.C. United attacked the Chicago Fire unrelentingly. They poured all of their efforts forward, creating chance after chance. In the process, they scored the two goals they needed to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. Unfortunately, United’s disjointed play during the preceding 70 minutes allowed Chicago to tally two goals of their own, earning them the 2-2 tie, the 3-2 series victory on aggregate, and a ticket to the next round….

The press ahead of D.C. United’s first round playoff clash with the Chicago Fire last night leaned heavily on D.C.’s poor record against the Fire, especially in recent playoff history. A lot of it also talked about Chicago’s big signing, Mexican national team veteran Cuahtemoc Blanco. And to some extent, there was some talk about D.C.’s injured stars, Jaime Moreno and Luciano Emilio. Both players picked up injuries in United’s completely meaningless season finale last…

Two weeks ago, D.C. United traveled to Los Angeles to play a depleted Galaxy team and were lucky to come away with a disappointing 0-0 tie after Nate Jaqua missed two easy opportunities in front of the United goal. Determined not to fall into the trap of playing down to their competition again, United scored early in their 3-1 victory over the visiting Chicago Fire and never looked back. Fire goalie Matt Pickens bobbled…

D.C. United’s defense let them down once again on Sunday as the Chicago Fire sprinted to a 2-0 lead in the first half and held on for a 3-2 win in front of 18,652 fans at RFK Stadium. United has now lost three in a row and have but one victory in their last seven matches, not the kind of playoff tune-up coach Peter Nowak wanted. As bad as it was, it could have…