BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (AP) - Nicolas Gaitan and Aleksandar Katai scored first-half goals and the Chicago Fire beat Minnesota United 2-0 on Saturday night.
"Disappointing,” said Minnesota Head Coach Adrian Heath. “I don't think we ever really got going. Showed a little bit more endeavor, a little bit more fight, a little bit more enthusiasm in the second half. In the first half, we were on the back foot, we were second-best in nearly every aspect of the game."
Gaitan's opener in the 34th minute started with the Fire (4-4-4) springing a counterattack on a Minnesota corner.
Dax McCarty found Przemyslaw Frankowski near the center circle with an open field in front of him. Frankowski drove it into the right side of the area and crossed it to Gaitan, who used one touch to cut back on the overcommitted goalkeeper and finished with a tap-in.
"We set up to try to make sure that can't happen," said Loons defender Brent Kallman. "We missed that opportunity and then they did a better job of breaking then we did, of recovering.
Katai scored nine minutes later, running behind Johan Kappelhof's long ball and finishing a low-hard shot from a narrow angle.
Minnesota has scored just two goals in its last four matches and dropped to 4-4-3.