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Mapp, Blanco fuel Fire past D.C. United

May 9, 2008 - 5:24 AM WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Justin Mapp scored his first goal since 2006 and captain Cuauhtemoc Blanco also tallied as the Chicago Fire recorded their third straight victory Thursday, a 2-0 triumph over D.C. United.

Jon Busch was only required to make two saves en route to his second consecutive shutout and league-leading fourth of the season.

"All the credit goes to the guys on the field," Busch said. "From the defenders to the midfielders to the forwards, those are the guys doing all of the dirty work and making my job easy."

With the victory, the Fire (5-1-1) notched their best start in franchise history, surpassing the team's seven-game total (5-2-0) in 1999. The win also allowed Chicago to move past idle Columbus into first place in the Eastern Conference.

"We are very pleased with the result tonight," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said. "Any time you play in D.C., you know it is going to be a tough game. We handled their pressure well early, were able to put together some good plays, and in the end, coming out of D.C. with points is a big plus."

D.C. United (2-5-0), which has lost four of its last five matches, was shut out in consecutive matches for the first time since May 2005.

"I don't know what to think anymore because we work so hard each week," D.C. United veteran forward Jaime Moreno said. "I don't think we were playing so bad, you know, we created chances but we couldn't put it away.

"It one of those things where you have to make your luck change and the only way to do it is to keep working. We got nothing else to do. ... We have to turn it around, that's the only way."

Mapp opened the scoring in the 39th minute after Chad Barrett won a 50/50 ball by heading it to the unmarked 23-year-old. Mapp patiently sized up his left-footed shot from the top of the penalty area and beat goalkeeper Zachary Wells to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.

"Chad did a good job of getting on the end of it and knocking it back down," Mapp said. "It was just me there. I tried to put it on target and thankfully I was able to."

For Mapp, it was his first goal since August 30, 2006 against the Houston Dynamo.

The Fire doubled their advantage in the 62nd minute, courtesy of Blanco.

The 35-year-old Mexican star took advantage of the space he was given before unleashing a shot from outside the box which sailed over the reach of Wells and into the top right corner of the net for his third goal of the season.

"We are only just beginning the season," Blanco said. "We have to keep working and getting better each day."

Wells finished with five saves for D.C. United.