especially in the second half as the visitors sat in to protect their lead. The Hoops nearly pulled level in the 69th minute, but Bobby Rhine's shot was cleared off the line by Facundo Erpen.
FC Dallas boss Colin Clarke made one change to the team that lost 3-0 to Chivas USA the Saturday before at The Home Depot Center. Kenny Cooper came back into the team in a wide midfield role, replacing Mark Wilson.
Here's Clarke's team (4-4-2): Dario Sala - Bobby Rhine (Arturo Alvarez 75), Drew Moor, Greg Vanney, Chris Gbandi - Ronnie O'Brien, Richard Mulrooney, Simo Valakari (Mark Wilson 84), Kenny Cooper - Roberto Mina (Dominic Oduro 66), Carlos Ruiz. [Substitutes Not Used: Ray Burse, Clarence Goodson, Aaron Pitchkolan, David Wagenfuhr]
"It was disappointing. You look at that game and we're just snakebitten in front of goal at the moment," said Clarke. "Things just did not go our way tonight. It's the most dominant performance I've seen in a long, long time over the course of 90 minutes, but we get caught on the counter attack. We had chances early on to go up, we played some good stuff, had some things fall in around their box -- but it's just not going in at the minute. We've got to be sure we stay strong and stick together."TEAM NEWS
The current 328-minute goalless streak for FCD is just 42 minutes away from the club record, set between July 19-Aug. 16, 2003. It's the second longest in club history.
"I'm very proud of our team tonight. D.C. United has been beaten once this season, and let's be honest, they were never in the game," Clarke said. "There was only one team in this game tonight and we failed to capitalize on our possessions and chances."
The Hoops also struggled to break down the massed United defense, especially in the second half, once they had taken the lead. "Obviously it makes it a little bit more difficult," said Kenny Cooper. "At the same time it allows us to get people forward, I think we did some good things we just didn't take care of our opportunities and they took care of the one that they had."
The three-game skid is the longest in nearly a year, since losing three in a row July 16-27 of last season. The three consecutive games without a goal also tied the FCD club record, set on four previous occasions,
"It doesn't feel good. We are disappointed. In New England, we could have gotten something out of that. At Chivas, we didn't deserve anything at the end of the day," Clarke said. "Tonight, we definitely deserved three points; it is just not going our way. We have to remain strong and stick together and I'm fairly confident that this team will playing here in November at MLS Cup. The only way to turn around bad luck is to work harder."
Still, after an outstanding start a year ago, with 11 wins in the first half of the campaign, the Hoops then went on a 10-game winless run.
"We know what happened last year and that's not going to happen again. We know that. The thing about our group is that we know we started out the first third of the season very strong," said Bobby Rhine. "But, you can never allow the highs to get to high when you are feeling good about yourself. You can't let the lows to feel too low. Without question, this is a low point for our team. But, we can't allow these feelings to stick around and we'll try and get things right on Saturday."
On Wednesday, FC Dallas made a major foray into the international transfer market, signing Trinidad & Tobago international goalkeeper Shaka Hislop. The 37-year-old Hislop, last with England's West Ham United - who he backstopped in the FA Cup Final in May - played the first two games in the World Cup for T&T, including the stunning scoreless draw with Sweden.NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls had their winless streak lengthened to four matches, a Landon Donovan goal all the Los Angeles Galaxy needed for victory at The Home Depot Center on July 4. The Red Bulls remain in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 14 points from 15 matches, now four points behind the Columbus Crew for fifth place and six points behind the third-place tie between the Chicago Fire and Kansas City Wizards.
LAST MATCH
The Galaxy returned home after winning for the first time since April 29, a stretch of 10 games without victory, while the Red Bulls had won just once over the previous seven matches.
And just as he did the weekend before in his first game back from World Cup duty, Donovan proved the difference. Breaking on the end of a swift counterattack, Donovan ran onto a wild backheel from Peter Vagenas, outraced a pair of Red Bulls defenders and poked the ball underneath Tony Meola from just inside the area for his third goal since his return from Germany.
The Galaxy held on for the shutout -- their third in a row -- and won back-to-back games for the first time in defense of their MLS Cup title. Red Bulls interim head coach Richie Williams was left still looking for his first victory, in his third game in charge.
Williams made no changes to the team that lost 3-2 to the New England Revolution the Saturday before at Gillette Stadium.
Here's Williams' team (4-3-1-2): Tony Meola - Marvell Wynne, Carlos Mendes, Jeff Parke (Jordan Cila 83), Steve Jolley (Joe Vide 15) - Seth Stammler, Danny O'Rourke, Chris Henderson - Amado Guevara - Mike Magee, Edson Buddle. [Substitutes Not Used: David Arvizu, Blake Camp, Jon Conway, Taylor Graham, Elie Ikangu]
"We would have liked to have created a couple more chances but I thought we were solid defensively and better in the midfield and we just need to be sharper up front," Williams said. "The effort was good. If we continue to play like that, we'll be OK."TEAM NEWS
For the second game running, the Red Bulls were without Jean Philippe Peguero and Youri Djorkaeff. Peguero will be available for the FC Dallas, as his two-game suspension has ended, but Djorkaeff is expected to be in France for at least another week tending to his ailing mother.
"They're both very good players but unfortunately they weren't here tonight," Williams said. "Again, that's another thing where you've got to concentrate on who's on the field. Edson and Mike did a good job up there and worked hard. That's what they need to do when they're called in to play when guys like Youri and Peguero are not around."
While the Red Bulls were held without a goal for the third time in four games, Williams was more pleased with their effort. "We were talking about coming out with a bit more energy and playing well from the start which we did," Williams said. "Maybe Landon had a free header early on and there was one time we broke down but otherwise I thought it was solid."
The Red Bulls playing staff was hoping to turn things around on the road, after a tumultuous couple of weeks. They've now lost the first two games of their three-game road swing, starting a stretch of five away games in their seven over the month of July.
"You can't let distractions get in your way. They're professional soccer players and we're professional coaches. You've got to out and perform well and put all that stuff behind you," Williams said. "We've made a big effort to tell everyone, 'Look, you put all that behind you when you step on the field. You focus, you concentrate and you play for 90 minutes.'"
Midfielder Chris Henderson became the first player in MLS history to reach the 300-appearance mark in regular season matches. "It would have been nice to be able to get the victory in my 300th game, but it is nice to have been consistent in this league, doing enough over the years to always be on the field," he said. "That is what I take pride in. There are some others who are good enough to be in the same class, like [Steve] Ralston, [Cobi] Jones, Jason Kreis, guys like that who have been consistent over the years. I just want to be able to stay consistent and help my team."
And playing in his first-ever MLS game was rookie Joe Vide, who came on as a substitute after just 15 minutes. "The team is kind of dropping like flies out there with injuries, but I was a little surprised to get in. You obviously don't want anyone on the team to get hurt," he said. "The speed is much faster than the reserve games, so you have to be on your toes all the time because it is so much faster. It was pretty exciting playing against Cobi Jones considering I had watched him all the time growing up."
