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FC Dallas snuffs out Fire

Sep 21, 2008 - 9:02 PM BRIDGEVIEW, Illinois (Ticker) -- FC Dallas erupted against the best defense in Major League Soccer, jumping ahead early and running away with a 4-1 rout of the Chicago Fire.

Chicago (11-9-5) had not allowed more than two goals in a single game all season, but Dallas (7-9-9) doubled that. Jeff Cunningham got his team on the board almost immediately and added a second goal in the second half when the blowout was in full force.

In the second minute of play, Dallas' Andre Rocha sent a free kick into the penalty area. Kenny Cooper whiffed on the tip-in, but Cunningham took advantage of Chicago's defensive miscommunication and tipped the ball in from the right side. Chicago goalkeeper Jon Busch and the defense were caught out of position.

Aaron Pitchkolan and Bruno Guarda added goals at the tail end of the first half to give Dallas a big advantage going into halftime. Coming into the day, the Fire had allowed a league-low 20 goals all season. The next closest team was the Houston Dynamo, who have allowed 28.