FC Dallas extended their home unbeaten streak to eight games and overall unbeaten streak to nine with a 2-1 victory at FC Dallas Stadium over struggling D.C. United, their club-record seventh consecutive defeat.
Set pieces once again were the difference for FCD, who have made a habit of punishing teams on restarts this year. Je-Vaughn Watson scored his first goal of 2013 when he chested in a Michel corner kick in the 77th minute for the eventual game-winner, Dallas’ eighth set piece goal of the young season.
The opener, however, came from the run of play. FCD caught United out in transition, giving Eric Hassli time to find Jackson all alone on the left side of the box. The midfielder blasted a high, hard shot past United keeper Joe Willis for the 1-0 lead.
The score continued trends for both teams –United lead the league in early goals surrendered, this being the fifth they’ve allowed in the opening 15 minutes of a match, while Dallas have scored first in 10 of eleven matches this season.
Just before the halftime whistle, the Black-and-Red leveled on a bit of brilliance by Dwayne De Rosario. After drawing a foul just outside of the Dallas 18, United used a quick touch go give DeRo an angle for his low shot to the right corner, beating Chris Seitz at full stretch to make it 1-1 at the break.
Prior to that goal, FC Dallas had not been scored upon earlier than the 68th minute all season. They wouldn’t surrender another in this one, as a scrappy and disjointed second half produced precious few chances for either side. Willis did well to get to a clever Blas Perez header that looked like it was headed wide, while D.C. failed to seriously test Seitz.
With the loss, United’s miserable first third of the season (1-8-1, 4 points) continues. They remain dead last in the East, and will host Sporting KC next Sunday.
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Match Stats (mlssoccer.com)
Opta Chalkboard (mlssoccer.com)
D.C. United returns home on Sunday, May 19 when Sporting KC comes to town
