With Paul Arriola serving the second half of a two-match ban, D.C. United looked to Costa Rican utility man Ulises Segura to fill the void on the right flank on Wednesday night
Did he ever.
Segura scored his first MLS brace, one on either side of halftime, and injected some crucial energy as D.C. fought from two goals down to earn a 3-3 draw against the Chicago Fire at Audi Field.
The Black-and-Red will feel hard done not to take all three points after Luciano Acosta actually put them in the lead in the 81st minute. Still, they owed even that opportunity to a player who arrived in D.C. last season billed as a No. 8, only to transition to being a winger on both flanks in D.C.'s 4-2-3-1. He's also seen time at striker and wingback out of necessity, and paid homage to the former with his fourth and fifth career MLS goals on Wednesday.
He had his first two minutes before the break after Przemyslaw Frankowski's giveaway turned into a transition attack for D.C. Wayne Rooney dribbled toward the penalty area then played to his right for Segura, who slotted in a clinical right-footed finish inside the left post.
Segura's second came 16 minutes after the break, when he ran onto Leonardo Jara's excellently shaped ball down the right flank. Segura took an excellent first touch before driving his finish beyond goalkeeper Kenneth Kronholm with his second.
After featuring primarily as a substitute early this season, Segura has made four consecutive starts for D.C., though he may be a candidate to be rotated out of the squad for Saturday's home match against the San Jose Earthquakes (8 pm ET | TV & streaming info).
