they kept coming at us. They had a great game plan and they came out and executed it. Until the last 20 minutes, we did what we needed to do, but they scored on two crosses and two set pieces and I thought that was the difference."
• Even after FC Dallas pulled level through Ruiz's goal, the Crew felt like they could get the game-winner in the final 10 minutes.
• "When (Marcelo) Saragosa got the red card, it was almost like, OK we've got it," Schmid said. "I almost wish he hadn't have gotten that card. I think we would have been better off because even when he was in there, we were still close to breaking through."
• Even though FC Dallas came into the game with a five-game unbeaten streak, the Crew felt they could come away with a result to keep pace in a tightly-packed Eastern Conference.
• "Obviously, the effort was there. On two different occasions, we were leading the game and felt like we were going to get out of here with at least a point," said Alejandro Moreno. "In the end, they take advantage of a set piece and in some ways, it's our responsibility to make sure that everyone is marked up on set pieces at the end of a game. We didn't do that and we leave here without a point."
• After allowing 17 goals over a seven-match run, the Crew had really tightened up their defense, recording five shutouts in their last six games. But they couldn't stop FC Dallas.
• "It's disappointing," Andy Herron said. "They're a man down and every time we put the ball down, we got better positioning but lack of possession was killing us. They had a great effort with a man down and we couldn't keep the lead. We can't do anything but keep our heads up and keep working."
D.C. UNITED
D.C. United won for the second time in five days, getting the game's lone goal as they defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy in David Beckham's MLS debut on Aug. 9 at RFK Stadium. United now have 30 points from 18 games, tied for second place in the Eastern Conference with the New York Red Bulls, both teams six points behind the New England Revolution but just a point ahead of the Kansas City Wizards.
LAST MATCH
• The Galaxy were on the second game of a three-game tour of the Eastern Conference in league play, after playing to a scoreless draw at Toronto FC in their first MLS game in more than a month, while D.C. United had put an end to a three-game winless run the weekend before with a comprehensive 3-0 win against conference leaders New England. It was also the first of two meetings in a week between the clubs; they will battle next Wednesday in a SuperLiga semifinal at The Home Depot Center.
• The sellout crowd of 46,683 on hand at RFK Stadium was given something to cheer about early, as Luciano Emilio scored the game's only goal in the 27th minute. Taking a short pass from Marc Burch well outside the penalty area, he strode forward and hammered a rising blast that clipped off goalkeeper Joe Cannon's hands and into the back of the net for his league-leading 13th goal on the campaign.
• The Galaxy's comeback efforts were dealt a blow in the 67th minute when Kyle Martino was sent off with a straight red card from referee Jair Marrufo for a heavy tackle on United playmaker Fred.
• The large crowd got what many also came to see in the 72nd minute, when Beckham came on the field for his Major League Soccer debut, replacing Quavas Kirk.
• The RFK faithful were then almost treated to another bit of history with 10 minutes left, when Jaime Moreno found himself all alone in front of goal. But Cannon made a terrific save to deflect his shot just wide, stopping his bid for his 109th career league goal, which would make him the all-time leader.
• United head coach Tom Soehm made one change to the team that defeated the New England Revolution 3-0 the Sunday before. Fred came into the playmaking midfield role, replacing Rod Dyachenko
• Here Soehn's team (4-3-1-2): Troy Perkins - Bryan Namoff (Greg Vanney 89), Bobby Boswell, Devon McTavish, Marc Burch - Ben Olsen (Brian Carroll 70), Clyde Simms, Joshua Gros - Fred - Luciano Emilio, Guy-Roland Kpene (Jaime Moreno 46). Substitutes Not Used: Nicholas Addlery, Rod Dyachenko, Domenic Mediate, Jay Nolly
• "It was a difficult situation, there was a lot of hype built around this one. As much as we tried to avoid the distractions for the guys there was a still a lot going on that normally doesn't happen. It's a game where you try to keep them focused on what the real goal is which is to get three points," Soehn said. "And at the end of the day I think we did a good job of holding down the fort and making it difficult for them. We were pretty opportunistic. The goal Luciano scored was a big reason we brought him here; to do things like he did today."
TEAM NEWS
• Despite the atmosphere surrouding the appearance by Beckham, Soehn had hoped there would be another reason for the large crowd to go away happy - beyond just the United victory.
• "I would have loved to see Jaime celebrate breaking the goal record. I know he tried real hard and (Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon) tried real hard to stop him, but that would have made it even more special for the fans where someone with Jaime's experience could come out with a goal that important," Soehn said.
• Christian Gomez was again kept out of the lineup, and Fred given the role of pulling the strings behind the front two.
• "He came from Australia and he's had a busy schedule so he hasn't had many touches in the last five days. It's difficult for him to come in being away from the game a little bit. But we need to give him the time to get focused mentally because it's a long season; he's gotten quite used to playing on the outside and I thought actually when we moved him to the outside he was doing a little bit better," Soehn said. "We're still going to continue to push him into that spot once in a while when we need him and I know he'll do a good job there."
• After some struggles and personnel changes, it was a second consecutive clean sheet for the United back four. "We're getting comfortable with each other. We're still making mistakes -- luckily they're not capitalizing on it -- but it's just better all around," said Devon McTavish. "It starts up at the top, everyone's [working] harder in the midfield, and it just bleeds down to us. We're getting there."
• After scoring in the first two games of the season, Emilio went six league games without finding the back of the net. Since, he's scored 11 goals in 10 league games, including three in the last two.
• "At the beginning of the match, the coaching staff told us that we needed to shoot from anywhere on the field -- if we had an opportunity to shoot on goal, to do so, and that's what I did on that particular play," said Emilio.
• On Wednesday, United saw their SuperLiga bid come to an end through some David Beckham magic, falling 2-0 to the LA Galaxy in the semifinal at The Home Depot Center. After having all of the early play, United conceded a free kick some 24 yards straight out from goal, and Beckham whipped his effort over the left side of the wall inside the post to give the Galaxy the lead (27). Then two minutes after the halftime interval, Beckham slid an inch-perfect pass inside a defender for Landon Donovan to run onto, and the U.S. international finishing his breakaway with aplomb to double the lead, and eventually send the Galaxy into the final against Mexico's Pachuca.
• "It's a major disappointment when we had a chance to play at home in front of our crowd. But we have to get over it, move on and get on with league," Soehn said. "... The free kick I thought Troy ... has got to count on his wall a little bit better. He has got to take care of his side of the goal. But it was a great strike."
• Here's Soehn's team: Troy Perkins, Bobby Boswell (Guy-Roland Kpene 66), Devon McTavish, Bryan Namoff, Greg Vanney (Christian Gomez 46), Fred (Justin Moose 86), Brian Carroll, Ben Olsen, Joshua Gros, Jaime Moreno, Luciano Emilio. Substitutes Not Used: Rod Dyachenko, Domenic Mediate, Jay Nolly, Clyde Simms
• "When you evaluate guys' performances especially in big games, or any games for that matter, you go down the line and look at how many guys had good games. You could probably count on one hand the guys who had good games for us today," Soehn said. "Especially in big games like this, you can't have that because the teams are too even."
