DC United Match report.

DC United played the Houston Dynamo last night at RFK Stadium and finished their 3 game home stand with a 2-0 victory. They have started the season 2-1-0 and have 7 points, putting them in second place in the Eastern Conference of MLS, 2 behind Kansas City and 3 ahead of New England.

Their play last night was ok, but composed. Their defense was very strong, with the exception of a few minor gafs that didn't do them any harm. Troy Perkins put on the strongest performance I have ever seen him give. He commanded his goal area much better than he did in the first match against Red Bull New York. He was strong in the air and held onto some tough balls.

DC's special teams, if their is sucha thing in soccer, was very good. Both goals were scored via free kicks. That is always a good sign for a team that when they get into a set piece play, they almost always execute. Gomez is a master at this.

Houston did a good job at keeping Gomez from running the offense, having Serioux basically ride him the whole match. DC is going to have this happen more and more in MLS as teams work to stall their offensive machine. This is were Freddy Adu really needs to step up and serve as the second playmaker of the team. I watched him run up and down the right side of the field last night. There were times that he looked like he was unsure how far up the field he should be going. There was one play were the red "Dorothy, there's no place like home" shoed Moreno picked up a ball at midfield and started the attack, with Freddy on his right. Freddy had plenty of space to run up ahead of Moreno to give him time to pass it up ahead. Instead Freddy just hung back and did not either match Moreno's pace, or run ahead of him, as he should have. Moreno still passed him the ball, only to have Freddy pass it back to Boswell or someone in the back. He did have some good moments that show his field vision and is skillz, which this kid has definately got. He just needs to have faster reactions to the moment.

Overall, it was a strong match for United. They put together a very solid defensive effort and were able to convert two set plays, and send the Dynamo home without any points. I had a great time at the match. The stadium didn't have as many people as they did for the home opener, but the crowd was still energetic and the Screaming Eagles and Bara Brava are always, always, a great sourse of fan support for the club.

Next week United head up to the Swamp, Giants Stadium, to take on Red Bull New York, who have only picked up 3 points in their last 3 matches. Should be an interesting affair, as both teams usually play well against the other, as they hate each other.