In the infancy of MLS, they were the elite of the elite. But these days, the Chicago Fire and D.C. United have the longest active playoff droughts in the league.
The Fire (0-1-0, 0 points) host D.C. (0-0-1, 1 point) on Saturday night, with both teams eager to chart a new course and end their respective skids of seven and five seasons without a playoff appearance.
It’s a long way from the league’s first four seasons (1996-99), when D.C. captured three MLS Cups and Chicago won the other, topping United 2-0 in 1998.
Last year, while D.C. United were denied a playoff slot by goal differential, the Fire finished last in the 15-team Eastern Conference.
Last weekend in their season-opening matches, both teams showed their firepower, twice taking leads, but ultimately they were derailed by breakdowns.
In Ohio, the Fire surrendered the final three goals in a 4-2 loss to the Columbus Crew. Meanwhile in Washington, the United played Toronto FC to a 2-2 draw.
Propelling Chicago early in its match was newly acquired wing Jonathan Bamba, who set up both of the Fire goals with passes to Brian Gutierrez.
The work of the dynamic Bamba, who came from Spain’s Celta de Vigo in January for a reported $2 million transfer fee, was encouraging.
But before the night was over, the Fire surrendered three gift goals — one off an ill-advised goal kick, another on an own-goal deflection and the last off a misplay by new winger Philip Zinckernagel.
“We basically gave them three goals. That’s tough,” Chicago coach Gregg Berhalter said. “But the positives of it are we created a number of chances.”
In their draw, D.C. United got a goal from Boris Enow and a sensational tally from Christian Benteke. Jacob Murrell sent a cross to the far post, where Benteke rose above a defender to score on a powerful header.
With the tally, Benteke continued where he left off last year when he was the winner of the MLS Golden Boot after scoring 23 goals.
However, after entering the second half with a 2-1 lead, the Black and Red struggled with possession and ultimately surrendered the tying tally on a penalty kick after a foul call in the box.
“This is one that you feel like, when you look back, you’d have to say this probably needed to be three points for us tonight,” D.C. United coach Troy Lesesne said.
Chicago has a four-match winless streak (0-2-2) in the series against D.C.
–Field Level Media
