McBride comes off bench, tries to rally Fire
Things changed at the start of the second half Saturday night at Toyota Park.
Fans in brand-new No. 20 jerseys sat up straight. Section 8, quiet much of the first half, suddenly found its voice. A sense of electricity pervaded the nearly sold-out stadium.
Only the score didn't change: Fred's 27th minute goal stood as D.C. United (9-9-1, 28 points) ended the Fire's seven-game undefeated streak with a 1-0 victory.
New Fire forward Brian McBride didn't look like a 36-year-old playing his fourth game in 11 days. Nor did he look jet-lagged after Thursday's flight home from the Olympics in China.
"It was an easy decision," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said of bringing McBride off the bench in the 46th minute. "He's a guy that I think can help us. We decided we needed something up front, and I spoke to him yesterday and today and he felt that he could give us whatever was needed on our part. ... To his credit he came in and did well as far as holding balls up front, laying balls off."
His 52nd-minute tackle led to a good shot for fellow front-runner Andy Herron. But Herron, who struggled until being subbed in the 66th minute, put the ball over the crossbar.
McBride got his first shot in the 55th minute, a header off a Chris Rolfe cross, but it went wide.
His 88th-minute touch shot 4 yards out was slowed by a defender and saved by just-signed goalkeeper Louis Crayton.
His extra-time header toward an open net was saved off the goal line by defender Devon McTavish.
"He got one good look with the header," Hamlett said. "I thought it was in."
"The header, I needed to get a lot more on it," McBride said. "And then the cross, I got a good piece. It must have caught the defender running behind me. We had a few opportunities."
The Fire (9-6-5, 32 points) defense, still the best in MLS, struggled to find Fred.
The United midfielder was so wide open on the far side when he got a running start and slammed a header past Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch without breaking stride.
"On a night when they really didn't get any chances, we fell asleep on a set play, and that's the way the game was decided," Hamlett said.
Fred nearly scored again in the 48th minute, and again he was left all alone. This time his shot hit the post to Busch's left.
McBride wasn't the only area product to take the field. Aurora's Quavas Kirk replaced Moreno in the 82nd minute for coach Tom Soehn, a former Fire defender and also an Arlington Heights native.