DC United were looking for their first win of the season in their 4th game, while FC Dallas were looking to continue their great start with their 3rd win out of 4 games.
Both teams were forced to make changes due to players being on international break. For United, Kofi Opare came in for Steve Birnbaum on duty with the US national team
FC Dallas, with 7 players away on international duty, were forced to make 3 changes from their last game, a 2-0 win in Montreal
From the start, FC Dallas took control, with the majority of the action occurring in the DC half
When United did generate attacks
...Dallas were on hand to either block them
...or, on the rare occasion that the ball made it through close to goal, to snuff it out completely.
It then came as no shock when, in the 14th minute, Dallas took the lead, with Michael Barrios taking advantage of a defensive mixup between Opare and Taylor Kemp to slot the ball far out of reach of Travis Worra.
United then pushed forward, attempting to equalize
...but Dallas made it clear that they weren't going to give up and let that happen, chasing the ball down
...blocking passes
...or cutting them out completely
...while also continuing to attack
Which led to Barrios scoring his 2nd goal in the 28th minute, doubling the lead.
Over the rest of the half, United had several sorties down the wings
...but again, nothing that wasn't easily snuffed out by the Dallas defenders.
The second half continued as the first, with Dallas continuing their dominance.
In the 52nd minute Maximilliano Urruti scored to make it 3-0 to Dallas, and celebrated by firing an imaginary bow towards his bench
This sparked some attacking movement from United, as first Patrick Nyarko attempted to get past the defense
...and then Sean Franklin made it through, in the 60th minute, only to be fouled in the box
Fabian Espindola stepped up to take the penalty, which he hit straight down the middle for an easy save for Chris Seltz in the Dallas goal.
Immediately after the penalty it went from bad to worse for United, as Marcelo was sent off for a serious foul. At that point, Dallas just kept possession, and the feeling was that if both sides could have ended the game then and there, they'd have been happy to do so. Seeing that something needed to change, Olsen brought on Jared Jeffrey
...followed by Miguel Aguilar
...and finally Luciano Acosta
...but there was no way through the packed Dallas defense.
So, the game ended in a shutout for the rejigged Dallas team, and left DC United still looking for that elusive first win of the season.
