By The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Chris Pontius and Eddie Johnson scored and D.C. United beat the Chicago Fire 2-1 on Saturday night.
United (17-9-7) stretched its unbeaten streak to five games, clinching first place in the Eastern Conference _ and the biggest single-season turnaround in MLS history, rebounding from last year’s 24-loss season.
United opened the scoring at the 31-minute mark when Pontius headed a perfect cross from Eddie Johnson past Kyle Renish into the lower left corner. It was Pontius’ first goal after missing most of the season due to injury.
Johnson added to the total in the 53rd minute, forcing a turnover in the Chicago end and firing a shot to upper left corner for his seventh goal of the season.
Harrison Shipp scored his seventh for Chicago (5-10-18) in the 67th minute. The Fire are winless in eight matches.
UNION 2, SPORTING KC 1
CHESTER, Pa. (AP) _ Rookies Brian Brown and Pedro Ribeiro scored the second goals of their MLS careers to help Philadelphia beat Sporting Kansas City.
Ribeiro finished Cristian Maidana’s cross in the 71st minute to break a 1-all tie for the Union (10-11-12). Ribeiro was unmarked in front of the goal as three Sporting KC defenders converged on Maidana near the right side of the 18-yard box.
Ribeiro entered as a substitute in the 69th minute for Brown, who opened the scoring in the 45th minute. Brown cut behind the defense and poked Maidana’s cross into the right corner of the net.
Dominic Dwyer converted a penalty kick in the 54th minute for his 22nd goal.
Sporting KC dropped to 14-12-7.
FC DALLAS 1, RAPIDS 0
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) _ Blas Perez scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season in FC Dallas’ victory over Colorado.
Dallas (16-11-6) moved past Real Salt Lake into third place in the Western Conference with its first road victory since Aug. 16 at San Jose. Real Salt Lake tied Portland 0-0 on Friday night.
Perez scored a penalty kick goal in the 56th minute after Colorado’s Chris Klute was called for a handball inside the penalty area. In the 89th minute, Perez narrowly missed a bending attempt.
Colorado (8-17-8) is winless in 13 straight games. The Rapids’ last win came against Chivas USA on July 25. Jared Watts received yellow cards in the 56th and 79th minutes for the Rapids.
IMPACT 1, TORONTO FC 1, TIE
TORONTO (AP) _ Felipe helped Montreal eliminate Toronto FC from playoff contention, scoring the tying goal in the 39th minute.
Toronto dropped to 11-14-8, giving Columbus an Eastern Conference playoff spot. Montreal is 6-18-9.
Warren Creavalle opened the scoring for Toronto in the 20th minute.
Montreal’s Heath Pearce was sent off in the 82nd minute for a scissors tackle on substitute Dominic Oduro. Toronto’s Jonathan Osorio was ejected in stoppage time for a tackle on Felipe. The Impact’s Hassoun Camara soon followed for a second yellow. Toronto star Michael Bradley sat out because of yellow card accumulation.
AP-WF10-19-14 0149GMT
