FRISCO – This wasn't the kind of start FC Dallas envisioned.

With a revamped roster and raised expectations a year after missing the playoffs, FC Dallas started 2009 the way it ended last season: with disappointment.

Chicago Fire forward Brian McBride scored on a penalty kick in the 51st minute, and Cuauhtemoc Blanco came off the bench to add a goal in the final minute for a 3-1 victory over FC Dallas before a crowd of 15,905 at Pizza Hut Park.

FC Dallas' six-game winning streak against Chicago and 14-game home unbeaten streak against the Fire went up in flames.

"It was an off game for us. We're a better team than what we showed today," FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman said. "We have to look at it as an opportunity to not sit back and think that we're there. We have some work to get done."

Midfielders Dave van den Bergh and David Ferreira and defenders Steve Purdy and Daniel Torres made their FC Dallas debut but couldn't provide the necessary spark.

FC Dallas played a flat first half but took a 1-0 lead on an amazing goal by standout forward Kenny Cooper.

Cooper, who finished second in Major League Soccer last season with 18 goals, blasted a shot in the ninth minute from just beyond midfield that twisted into the right side of the goal for 1-0 FCD lead. Chicago goalkeeper Jon Busch got turned around as the ball was heading toward the net and couldn't get a hand on it.

"Fortunately it snuck right in there," Cooper said of his near 60-yarder.

"The first shot he took for FC Dallas this year he scored a spectacular goal that I got to believe will probably be up for goal of the year," Hyndman said.

Chicago midfielder Justin Mapp tied the score, 1-1, in the 38th minute by beating FC Dallas goalkeeper Dario Sala on a shot to the right post.

FC Dallas defender Drew Moor was called for a handball foul in the 50th minute while battling for the ball in the penalty box against Mapp. That gave Chicago a penalty kick, and McBride beat Sala with a shot to the right corner.

FC Dallas just missed on several chances to tie the score in the second half. Blake Wagner had a shot go just wide left in the 71st minute. Off a corner kick in the 72nd minute, Moor's header hit the right post. Forward Jeff Cunningham's header in the 81st minute hit the crossbar.

"It's a game of inches and we had some great opportunities to put the ball in the goal," Hyndman said. "Today was a lot of anxiety, a lot of nerves and a lot of mistakes. Disappointing."