Chicago Fire hand DC United 5th straight loss, 2-1

CHICAGO - C.J. Sapong scored in his first start in nearly three months, Boris Sekulic had his first MLS goal and the Chicago Fire beat D.C. United 2-1 on Sunday night.

Sapong — who missed five games, first for personal reasons and then when he quarantined as part of COVID-19 protocols — put away a volley to open the scoring in the third minute. Álvaro Medrán bent a free kick to the top of the 6-yard box where Sapong flicked in a sliding right-footer.

Sekulic side-netted a header off a corner kick by Medrán in first-half stoppage time to give Chicago (5-8-4) a 2-0 lead.

An own goal by Chicago’s Jonathan Bornstein capped the scoring in the 56th minute.

D.C. (2-10-5) has lost five games in a row and is winless since a 1-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Sept. 2.

Chad Ashton, who took over as interim manager of United when Ben Olsen was fired this week, lost his first game at the helm. Olsen played for the franchise from 1998 to 2009 and took over as head coach in 2010. The team went 113-137-84 during his tenure and made the playoffs in five of the last six years. United won the U.S. Open Cup in 2013.

Olsen was the MLS Coach of the Year in 2014.