FRISCO – Kenny Cooper scored his seventh goal of the season, and FC Dallas got its fourth win of the season, 1-0, over the Chicago Fire on a scorching Sunday afternoon at Pizza Hut Park.

Cooper, the team's leading scorer, received a service pass from midfielder Andre Rocha and converted for the match's only score in the 17th minute.

"We've spent a lot of time practicing and talking about my moves when I have the ball," Rocha said. "[Cooper] is very intelligent and is making important plays for the team."

Rocha served a long pass to an open space in front of Chicago's goal area, leaving Cooper in a position to beat defender Bakary Soumare on the run and net the game-winning goal.

It was Rocha's sixth assist since arriving in MLS this season.

It was Cooper's fourth goal in four games against Chicago since his MLS debut in 2006. Three of those have been decisive.

"Hopefully, it's a statistic I can keep improving on," said Cooper, a Jesuit graduate. "He's [Rocha] got so much ability with the ball, when I am on the field I have so much confidence and am grateful to be at the end of his passes."

The temperature at kickoff reached 101 degrees on the field for the 14,738 who saw FC Dallas improve to 4-5-4 (16 points).

Dallas, which moved to third place in the Western Conference, is 16-1-4 when Cooper scores.

Chicago couldn't break FC Dallas' defense, which clung to Fire star Cuauhtemoc Blanco each time he had the ball. Blanco was the MLS player of the month for May.

"It was clear in the last three games we've played that the teams are coming out after Cuauhtemoc," Chicago coach Denis Hamlet said.

Dallas committed 15 fouls, and Blanco, who was a victim of six, believed there should have been some yellow cards handed out.

"It was bad refereeing," Blanco said. "I've always said they are repetitive fouls, and I think there should be more yellow cards."

FC Dallas, which has had trouble preserving late leads, did so Sunday. In the 70th minute, interim coach Marco Ferruzzi substituted defender Aaron Pitchkolan for midfielder Arturo Alvarez to strengthen his back line.

"They came out with three forwards," Ferruzzi said. "So we dropped Pitchkolan in there to help in the back."