front of 51,350 spectators. Chicago played in their red home kit, while D.C. was assigned their white away kit. United, as two-time defending champions, entered the final as favorites and used an attack-oriented style. The Fire relied on stronger defending and counterattacks, including from recovered winger Roman Kosecki as a surprise starter, and had five more days to rest after clinching the Western Conference title. D.C. kicked off the match at 12:30 p.m. and went on an immediate attack that resulted in a shot by Jaime Moreno that flew over the crossbar within 15 seconds. Their attacks continued, earning them a corner kick in the third minute that was deflected away by Chicago goalkeeper Zach Thornton. A rebound shot by Tony Sanneh was blocked and fell to Marco Etcheverry, who tripped in the box after a challenge by Luboš Kubík, but no penalty was called by referee Kevin Terry. Chicago's first scoring chance came in the sixth minute as Piotr Nowak delivered a low cross into the box that was deflected towards goal by Chris Armas, only to be cleared off the line by defender Jeff Agoos. After a header by Sanneh nearly broke the deadlock for United in the tenth minute, the Fire's "Eastern Bloc" took control of the midfield and pushed for their own chances. Jerzy Podbrożny's shot in the 14th minute was saved by Tom Presthus, while an effort by Ante Razov hit the post four minutes later. Chicago scored the match's first goal in the 29th minute following a build-up from their half and several one-touch passes, culminating in a give-and-go pass from Razov to Nowak in the penalty area. Nowak drew out Presthus and passed sideways to an unmarked Podbrożny for a tap-in from . United looked to quickly score an equalizer and earned set-piece chances, but the resulting headers from Roy Lassiter and Jaime Moreno went off target. With one minute remaining in the first half, the Fire pushed up on a counterattack through the center midfield to score their second goal of the match. Podbrożny drew in several defenders near the center circle and poked the ball to Razov, who laid it off for Armas to pass it forwards to Nowak. After a run up the left wing, Nowak cut in towards the center of the penalty area and shot between several players, including Diego Gutiérrez, who deflected the ball into the goal.