when to force people in the center and when to force them out wide. I thought we were able to win a lot of second balls that way and I thought our defenders played well," Hyndman said.
• After the United match, three of the final four matches for FCD are against the Western Conference directly in competition for playoff spots - vs. San Jose then away to Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles.
• "We felt like this was a must-win game. We didn't want to put pressure on ourselves by talking about it, but we came out well and hopefully we can build on this," Cunningham said.
• A week after Kenny Cooper scored for the first time since the arrival of Jeff Cunningham, Cunningham jumped back on the scoresheet with his two goals.
• "I think you're starting to see a little bit better understanding between the two and a little bit more acceptance of their roles," Hyndman said. "What we had hoped from the beginning was to have two legitimate players who could score. Jeff has been successful for us putting balls in the back of the net. He's also been successful for us in unbalancing the opposition."
• Cunningham has scored four goals and also has a pair of assists for his new side. The veteran striker now has netted 103 goals in his MLS career.
• "You also have to remember what a great assist he gave to Bruno (Guarda on the second goal). Here's a striker who goes out wide on a counterattack and serves a brilliant ball to the far post and we get a goal," Hyndman said. "So, I've been very pleased with his performance and I'm looking for better and better things from him."
D.C. UNITED
D.C. United saw their winless run reach four games in league play as the Los Angeles Galaxy got another hat trick from Landon Donovan in a wild 5-2 win Saturday night at The Home Depot Center. United have 33 points from 25 matches, still sitting in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the New York Red Bulls yet just a point ahead of the Kansas City Wizards for the final wild card spot.
LAST MATCH
• The Galaxy were still in the throes of a 12-game winless streak and looking for a first win with Bruce Arena in charge. United hadn't won in three league games.
• Yet it was the visitors who got off to a dream start. Just two minutes in, Ivan Guerrero put in a corner from the right and it fell right to Devon McTavish, who touched it past a defender and knocked home from close range.
• But the Galaxy exploded with three goals in a 15-minute sequence, spurred by Donovan's first two of the night. First, racing onto a through ball from Chris Klein that split the United defense, Donovan beat the advancing Louis Crayton with a neat flick of the outside of his right foot (23). Then in the 35th minute, Donovan lined up from 22 yards out and lashed a low line drive that settled inside the left post.
• The Galaxy made it 3-1 three minutes later when Eddie Lewis gathered the ball after a wild scramble and fired at goal. Crayton made the save, but the rebound fell to Alan Gordon, who stuffed it home for his fifth goal.
• Three minutes after the restart United got a goal back. Latching onto a long ball played over the top, Thabiso Khumalo cut to his right and put it home past Josh Wicks for his first MLS goal. But then the game changed -- Marc Burch sent off for a foul on David Beckham along the touchline in the 63rd minute.
• The Galaxy took advantage nine minutes from the end as Donovan corralled a loose ball and floated a soft chip to the right post where Peter Vagenas came in to softly side-foot a volley into the back of the net. Donovan then finished off the rout and his second hat trick of the season, again sent in alone on Crayton from a long ball by Klein, coolly slotting home for his league-leading 19th goal on the campaign.
• United head coach Tom Soehn made two changes to the team that played to the 2-2 home league draw with FC Dallas the weekend before. Fred came into the team on the right of midfield for Quavas Kirk and Luciano Emilio came in up top for Jaime Moreno.
• Here's Soehn's team (4-3-1-2): Louis Crayton - Bryan Namoff, Marc Burch, Devon McTavish, Gonzalo Martinez (Ryan Cordeiro 79) - Fred, Clyde Simms, Ivan Guerrero - Santino Quaranta (Rod Dyachenko 83) - Thabiso Khumalo, Luciano Emilio (Francis Doe 87). Substitutes Not Used: Quavas Kirk, Craig Thompson, Zach Wells, Mike Zaher
• "I'm not sure if the early goal caused that but we turned over the ball in some really bad spots," Soehn said. "Guys like Landon, you can't afford to leave them unmarked. We turned it over and he got rewarded for putting himself in good spots. We found ourselves chasing the game."
TEAM NEWS
• It was the first time in almost exactly two years since United had allowed five goals - since they were defeated by the Galaxy 5-2 at RFK Stadium on Aug. 26, 2006, behind two goals from Landon Donovan.
• "They had a lot of life. Landon and Beckham obviously add so much to the team. They caught us in spots in counter attacks. And Landon did a good job of finding the holes and we didn't account for them. They did pretty well and they exposed some of our weaknesses."
• United have now given up nine goals in their last three games, and 13 goals in their last five in all competitions. United are winless in those five matches.
• "We just kind of got caught in two mindsets, trying to press them at times. And no one was really on the same page," Devon McTavish said. "Defenders got caught sitting too far back. Some other players got caught trying to press. There are certain times to press and certain times to sit back. And it's situations when you're on the road and your up one nothing, you just got to sit back and get 10 guys, 11 guys behind the ball and defend. I don't think we did that very well."
• United face three of their final five games away from RFK Stadium, where they have taken just seven of a possible 36 points, the third-worst road record in the season this season.
• "I think when we get one goal up on the road we should have everyone settled. Make them beat us, and not us beating ourselves by spreading out and letting them break through," Marc Burch said. "You know, Landon is a great player, he's fast. We missed some of the long balls. Marking up those guys up top is hard because they're fast, with Landon running through the midfield. But you know, I think in the second half we were playing well."
• On Wednesday, United lost for the second time in two matches in the CONCACAF Champions League, falling 2-0 to CD Marathon of Honduras in San Pedro Sula. Milton Nuñez fired home from outside the area in the 67th minute, then Erick Norales flicked home a freekick with a header in the 83rd, to give the "Green Monster" their second win in as many Group A matches.
• "We had a plan to make sure our mentality was to not give up too many chances and I thought the first half we hung on pretty strong," Soehn said. "We had to make some substitutions and, to their [Marathon's] credit, they're a good counterattack team and they have some guys with pace who can hurt you and they created a few quality chances."
• Santino Quaranta was a late scratch and unavailable, while Jaime Moreno was not able to make the trip, still hampered by a swollen knee that kept him out of the Galaxy match.
• "Well, missing two guys like that obviously it takes a lot away from our possession game, which we've been accustomed to playing. When you have two guys like that on the field it makes players like Ivan [Guerrero] and Fred and Luciano [Emilio] so much more effective. So, it's a big loss for us, but that's the reality of sports and we have to deal with what we have," Soehn said.
• Here's Soehn's team: Louis Crayton; Craig Thompson, Bryan Namoff, Marc Burch, Gonzalo Martinez; Fred, Clyde Simms (Ryan Cordeiro 70 / Quavas Kirk 73), Ivan Guerrero, Boyzzz Khumalo; Rod Dyachenko (Gonzalo Peralta 61), Luciano Emilio.
