Graziani’s Offense Helps Burn Get Upper Hand on Fire

Forward Ariel Graziani scored Dallas’ first goal then assisted on the game-winner Saturday as the Burn defeated the Chicago Fire, 2-1, at Dallas in the opening game of the best-of-three MLS Western Conference semifinals.

Chicago’s defense of its MLS Cup ’98 title got off to a rocky start, as the Fire lost its playoff opener after cruising through last year’s postseason with five consecutive victories.

Graziani scored in the 52nd minute and got an assist on Mark Santel’s goal in the 75th minute.

Second-half substitute John Ball scored his first MLS goal four minutes later to bring Chicago within 2-1.

The winner of this series will advance to the Western Conference finals to face the winner of the Galaxy-Colorado series, which begins today at the Rose Bowl.

D.C. United 2, Miami 0--Forward Jaime Moreno scored both goals as D.C. United extended its MLS playoff home winning streak to 10 games with a victory over the Fusion in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Moreno drove the middle of the field from the left wing and passed to midfielder Marco Etcheverry. He quickly tapped the ball right back to Moreno, who blasted a shot from beyond the penalty area past Miami goalie Jeff Cassar in the 34th minute.

Moreno, assisted by Carey Talley, added an insurance goal in the 88th minute to complete United’s first step in its quest for a fourth consecutive berth in the MLS Cup.

The victory in the best-of-three series ended a two-game losing streak for United and snapped a two-game winning streak by Miami.