Final Road Match of 2015 Takes Fire to D.C. United Sunday

A week away from MLS competition kept the Men In Red from promptly building on their 3-1 win over the New England Revolution on Oct. 3, but the Chicago Fire now have that opportunity as they travel to third-place D.C. United for a Sunday matinée at RFK Stadium. 
Pregame coverage on Comcast SportsNet Chicago begins at 12:30 p.m. CT followed by kickoff in our nation's capital at 1 p.m. CT, with Dan Kelly on play-by-play and Brian Dunseth in the analyst chair.

For the Chicago Fire, the match represents one final chance to secure a road victory in 2015, and it comes against a D.C. United side whose Oct. 2 win over NYCFC snapped a spell of five losses and a draw in their previous six MLS matches. Nevertheless, United -- whose recent slump has coincided with the start of its latest CONCACAF Champions League campaign -- sits on 48 points and is one of three Eastern Conference clubs already to have punched their postseason ticket with two games remaining. Chicago's last win over D.C., both overall and at RFK Stadium, came in a 3-0 shutout on Oct. 4, 2013. 
"Always on the road it's about trying to have the ball and weathering 15-minute spells when you don't have it," said interim head coach Brian Bliss of his side's upcoming challenge. "For us, we don't have any issues scoring goals, it's about trying to keep the other guys off the board."
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One of the individuals heading up the charge to keep D.C. United at bay will be marking a milestone when he takes the field at RFK Stadium Sunday. Club captain and center back Jeff Larentowicz is set to become only the 30th field player in the league's 20-year history to reach that plateau and the second Chicago Fire player to hit the mark this season (GK Jon Busch, May 22). Larentowicz' three seasons and 92 games in Chicago have typified his strong and steady 11-year career in Major League Soccer.
"Luck," Larentowicz joked when asked how he could account for his longevity. "You've got to have a bit of luck to come in at the right time, and take your chance. I've had some coaches that took a chance on me and I never looked back, I never really wanted to give it back. [Three hundred appearances] has been a goal of mine for a number of years and I'm happy to have been healthy and been a part of teams." 
At the other end of the Fire lineup, Bliss is hopeful to again have the services of Brazilian Designated Player Gilberto, who now has an impressive six goals and four assists in 501 MLS minutes with Chicago. Gilberto sustained a slight injury in the latter stages of Chicago's win over the Revs and did not train in full on Thursday. 
"He's got some ill effects from that [collision]," Bliss said. "I guess he's day-by-day but we're going to have to sit him out because he can't really get out there and do the stuff he's capable of doing right now. Hopefully by the end of the week he's able to go."
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Gilberto has combined particularly well with a playmaking striker underneath him, first Mike Magee in Toronto followed by Harry Shipp against New England. With the speed of David Accam and Nyarko on the perimeter, that type of central link-up option would be a boon against a United side whose 40 goals allowed are the fewest in the Eastern Conference this season. 
"You've got a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things and finish their chances, so it makes it way easier," Nyarko said of Chicago's recent attacking options. "You've got Harry who can create every chance in the world and you need to get yourself in spots where he can find you. Gilberto can create as well as finish. It's almost unfortunate that we're finding that connection late in the year but we're going to keep building the last couple games and obviously every person in this team, given the confidence, can be very good."
As Chicago attempts to lock down the likes of 10-goal-scorer and former Fire mainstay Chris Rolfe and playmakers like Fabian Espindola and Alvaro Saborio, they'll eagerly welcome back four players who've been absent from camp the last 10 days while on international duty: the defensive-minded Daneil Cyrus, Joevin Jones and Matt Polster, as well as Accam. All four saw significant minutes with their respective international sides and figure to be sharp upon their return.   
Still, the battle-tested Nyarko knows that late-season fixtures like Sunday's often are settled by something more than tactics.  
"We're determined to go get a win there, they're fighting for spots in the playoffs and we're fighting for pride, and whoever wants it more will prevail."