In the infancy of MLS, they were the elite of the elite ... Propelling Chicago early in its match was newly acquired wing Jonathan Bamba, who set up both of the Fire goals with passes to Brian ...

Hugo Cuypers scored in the first minute, Philip Zinckernagel had an assist and his first career goal and Rominigue Kouamé ...

In possession, Berhalter clearly instructed his players to control the ball with short passes in their own half while looking for space to release new Designated Player left winger Jonathan Bamba.

Rios tied the match with his first goal as a Whitecap. MacKenzie started the play by stealing the ball off a Chicago defender ...

Chicago pulled even in the 30th minute when defender Andrew Gutman took a pass from rookie midfielder Jonathan Bamba and ...

Chicago pulled even in the 30th minute when defender Andrew Gutman took a pass from rookie midfielder Jonathan Bamba and scored his second goal of the season and the 13th of his career.

Another new signing in MLS, Bamba will hope to fare better than Chicago Fire's last Designated Player -- Xherdan Shaqiri, who largely failed to live up to his billing in the Windy City.

In the infancy of MLS, they were the elite of the elite. But these days, the Chicago Fire and D.C. United have the longest active playoff droughts in the league.

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