A Bicycle to Remember!

Jacob Murrell scored on an amazing bicycle kick in the 6th minute of second half stoppage time to give DC United a 2-2 draw against the Chicago Fire yesterday (March 1) at Soldier Field.

It was frigid in the Windy City, with game temperatures in the 20s. DC's starting lineup was:

Kim in goal

Schnegg, Rowles, Bartlett, Herrera on defense

Kijima, Enow, Pirani, Servania, Jared Stroud in midfield

Benteke at forward

Subs: Matti Peltola for Servania (61st minute), Murrell for Stroud (61st minute), Badji for Enow (75th minute), Rida Zouhir for Kijima (85th minute)

DC got on the board early, as Schnegg hit a nice through ball to Pirani down the left side, who crossed to Benteke in the 4th minute for a routine finish. DC dominated the first part of the first half, but later Chicago got some good opportunities. Chicago's Hugo Cuypers hit the post in the 28th minute, and 2 minutes later scored on a corner from point blank range. Kim looked like he was held by a Chicago player but the goal stood after a VAR booth review. Benteke hit the crossbar in the 36th minute, but the half ended 1-1.

Cuypers was left all alone on another corner to the far post in the 70th minute, and he buried it to put Chicago up 2-1. DC turned up the attack but Chicago's goalie Chris Brady made nice saves on Badji and Benteke (although I think Benteke's was going wide). DC seemed to get the breakthrough they needed when Chicago's Sam Rogers disrupted a cross to Benteke with his hand and DC got a penalty right at the end of normal time. However, Benteke uncharacteristically missed the net entirely on his penalty kick, shooting high.

DC continued to press through 5 minutes of stoppage time, and got a corner kick right at the 5 minute mark. Herrera sent the corner into the box; goalkeeper Kim had come up since it was last-gasp time. The corner was cleared out of the box to Peltola, who fed it back to Herrera as Kim ran back to his own goal. Herrera crossed to the right corner of the 6 yard box, and Murrell looped a no-leap bicycle kick into the far corner, out of the reach of the vainly diving Brady. The final whistle blew a few seconds later.

DC had nearly 59% of the possession, had 18 shots (6 on goal) and 10 corner kicks. The effort was excellent and the finish thrilling. However, the defense is far from air-tight, especially on the left side.

Personnel move: DC officially signed Fidel Barajas for a season-long loan from Chivas in the Mexican league this week.

Next game: vs Kansas City at Audi Field, Saturday March 8, 730pm Eastern.