Brandon McDonald scored his second goal of the season in the second half and Long Tan his first goal for United as the Black-And-Red made a move toward solidifying their place in the MLS Eastern Conference playoffs with a 4-2 win over the Chicago Fire at RFK Stadium.
The win kept D.C. United in 5th place in the East, but pulled them four points clear of the sixth-place Montreal Impact with three games in hand. In addition, United moved to within one point of fourth-place Chicago and third-place Houston with a game in hand on each.
McDonald scored in the 51st minute with a looping header that just eluded the despairing dive of Chicago goaltender Sean Johnson. The cross that set McDonald up came from Chris Korb, with whom McDonald exchanged shoves following Sunday's 1-1 draw against the Philadelphia Union.
As in the first half, United had the better portion of territory and possession, but the Fire still posed a threat. Minutes after McDonald scored, Marcelo Pappa whipped a shot that hit the post to Bill Hamid's left. With 15 minutes to play, Chicago pulled to within a goal when Gonzalo Segares was left unmarked in the area and headed a cross from Pavel Pardo along the ground and into the net.
Chicago had one more chance to pull even, but Hamid reacted quickly to push Chris Rolfe's shot around his right post. Minutes later, De Rosario scampered down the left wing and rolled the ball to Tan, who hit a weak shot that somehow managed to deflect off Johnson's gloves and roll into the net.
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