A crowd of 16,221 people were at RFK on Saturday to watch D.C. United take on Sporting Kansas City. Should United win, they'd take sole possession of 1st place in the Eastern Conference, continuing their best ever start to a season. Should Kansas win, and snap D.C.'s 16 game home unbeaten streak, they'd move to within 2 points of the top of the Western Conference.
The game started evenly, with each team getting half chances on goal
The tackles were flying in, with City's Roger Espinoza receiving the game's first yellow card for this lunge on United's Davy Arnaud
Undeterred, both teams continued at close quarters, challenging for every ball
D.C. United were still unable to find a way to break through the Sporting KC defense
But the story was the exact same at the other end, as Bill Hamid and his defense stood strong (although they were helped by the goal post from one Graham Zusi shot)
...again the two teams challenged for everything, both in the air...
...and on the ground
Jairo Arrieta, in for the injured Fabian Espindola, tried his best to shimmy past the Kansas City defense
...and was finally rewarded in the 42nd minute with a tap in from a Chris Pontius pass across the goal area
United's delight was short-lived though, as within a minute of the restart Dominic Dwyer restored parity as he slotted home his 3rd goal of the season, just before the break
Leaving D.C. United's coach, Ben Olsen, to rethink his half time team talk
The second half was a slightly more sedate affair in terms of goal chances, although the players continued to show effort, still challenging for everything in the air...
...and on the ground
In the 77th minute Sporting KC & US national team player, Graham Zusi, went down with a head injury
Leading to him playing the next 13 minutes (until substituted) with a color coordinated bandage
As the game reached the end of regular time, and entered injury time, the pace suddenly picked up, with a rally of end to end action
...as both teams tried to steal a victory
...but try as they might
neither team was able to find the decisive edge
...and the game ended with D.C. United, once again dropping points after initially taking the lead.
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