BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Jeff Cunningham was almost speechless Sunday after scoring two goals to lead FC Dallas to a surprising 4-1 win against the host Chicago Fire at Toyota Park.
It wasn't the results on the field that halted Cunningham's tongue, however. It was the birth of his first child, Michaela, on Monday morning, that made it difficult for him to express his feelings.
"People always describe the feeling of having a child, but until you actually have one, you don't know what a great moment it is," Cunningham said. "No accomplishment in football can match that."
Cunningham scored the game's first goal in the second minute after Andre Rocha swung a free kick into the box. It bounced off one defender after teammate Kenny Cooper got a foot onto it, and Cunningham was first to it in the crowd inside the six-yard box as goalkeeper Jon Busch vainly tried to grab the ball. Cunningham celebrated that goal by mimicking the rocking of a baby in his arms.
That goal, coming against a team that had the stingiest defense in the league entering the contest, changed the game for the final 88 minutes.
"The early goal, I think, they were forced to press the game," Cunningham said. "They opened up the back a little bit. I think that was it. The early goal changed the momentum of the game a bit. As a result we were able to get a few more."
FCD coach Schellas Hyndman said the early goal changed the mentality of the Fire.
"It puts them back on their heels, and they have to rush a little bit," said Hyndman, who received a vote of confidence last week from general manager Michael Hitchcock. "And maybe it affects the goalkeeper's mentality. He comes into the game thinking about a shutout. For us it was a great deal of confidence to do the things we practiced on."
The Hoops took advantage of a unique lineup for the Fire, as coach Denis Hamlett had to measure his roster in anticipation of a game Thursday at home against the Los Angeles Galaxy. With central defender Bakary Soumare out of the game due to yellow card accumulation, Lider Marmol got his first start of the season (and only his second appearance of the year) and his inexperienced showed early and often.
"We thought their weakness might be in the back four with their speed," Hyndman said. "We worked a lot this week on counterattacking and that showed today."
While the first goal was a sudden start to the game, the rest of the first half proved to be a shock as well. The Hoops got the second goal in the 43rd minute when Aaron Pitchkolan one-timed another free kick from Andre Rocha, calmly tucking back inside the far post across the goal.
"Rocha played a great ball and I was able to get in a good spot on the back post and send it in," said Pitchkolan, who had not scored since the 2006 season.
The third goal was the real shocker, as Cunningham dribbled the ball off a FC Dallas counterattack down the left side, then sent a cross to the right post, where midfielder Bruno Guarda one-timed it out of the air with a flying volley into the upper right side of the goal for a 3-0 Hoops lead. The goal was also the first for Guarda this season.
In the 61st minute, Cunningham got his second goal of the game, and his second chance to celebrate the birth of his daughter. Rocha sent a long clearance forward putting Cunningham in a foot race with Marmol to the ball. Cunningham had a step on Marmol, who shouted at Busch to come out.
But Cunningham got to the ball first and had an easy shot past Busch for his seventh goal of the season. Cunningham has scored 18 goals against the Fire in his long MLS career. FC Dallas became the first team this season to score more than twice in a game against the Fire, which had given up just 20 goals in 24 games before Sunday.
"We felt this was a must-win game," Cunningham said. "We don't want to put that pressure on by talking about it, but we knew in the back of our minds this was a must-win game for us. We came out and, my God, I am surprised by the way we played tonight."
With the win, Dallas jumped ahead of Los Angeles and San Jose in the Western Conference standings. With 30 points, Dallas is 11th overall in the overall MLS standings.
Dallas raised their road record to 3-5-5, while their home mark is a disappointing 4-4-4.
"We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole," said Hyndman, who took over as coach in June. "There were games we should have won that we didn't. We have done well on the road. What we have to do is take care of business at home."
Player Ratings: Barcelona 3-1 Sporting
Cunningham scores goal No. 100
Cunningham, Hoops shock Chicago
Player Ratings: Atlético 4-0 Schalke
