D.C. United and FC Dallas combined for 25 fouls between them, four yellow cards and a red card, and that was with the referee letting fouls go. Except for the fantastic finishes, the game resembled rugby much more than soccer, but the goals certainly redeemed the match. FC Dallas took the game into halftime tied at 1-1, but United played very well and finished their chances in the second half to grab a 4-1 win.
On all five goals, the defending was very poor, but there's no taking away from the finish on the opener. Maicon Santos scored the first goal of the match in the 28th minute, hitting a brilliant strike to the far post from 20 yards out. The FC Dallas inexplicably backed off him all the way and gave him way too much room to shoot.
DC looked like the better side for most of the first half and looked like they were going to coast into halftime with a lead, but they gifted a goal to Dallas. DC central defender Emiliano Dudar took a terrible touch in the 41st minute, essentially providing a through ball to Blas Perez, who finished to tie the match. Perez appeared to be offside when the ball was played in, but the referee judged that Dudar's attempt to play the ball nullified the offside.
That Dallas goal was made to look like a fluke as the second half wore on. The go-ahead goal and eventual winner was scored by rookie Nick DeLeon in the 60th minute, and it was a brilliant one. Maicon Santos played a cross into the back post from the right and DeLeon lost his man, let the ball bounce, then hit a fantastic volley into the roof of the net.
DeLeon would set up Danny Cruz for a close-range finish with a low cross in the 66th minute for the third goal and Dwayne De Rosario set up Maicon Santos for the fourth, scored in the 73rd minute with a header.
In the 77th minute, Daniel Hernandez made an ill-advised challenge on De Rosario from behind and was shown a second yellow card. De Rosario didn't react well to the challenge; he sprung up and started screaming profanities at Hernandez, inciting a bit of a scuffle. De Rosario was shown a yellow card for his part in the incident, while Hernandez exited the game. DC was unable to add to their lead, but Dallas will have to play next week without their suspended captain.