D.C. United's Dwayne De Rosario against the Montreal Impact (Getty Images)
D.C. United came into this match a little high on the hog, and rightly so. They were unbeaten in their last four matches, including an impressive 1-2 win at New England last weekend. One would have to figure they'd have a pretty good chance on their home turf against the road weary, expansion Montreal Impact. That wasn't quite how it panned out though.
If I'm honest with you, the first half was a bit drab in this one. Neither team created many chances, and the ones that came long weren't really good ones. Montreal captain Davy Arnaud probably had the best look of the first half in the 22nd minute, but he hit his fairly open shot over the bar.
Most disturbing for DC was the fact that they seemed to be getting outworked for large stretches of time. Montreal was winning a lot of the 2nd balls, and their front line was fairly easily winning balls in the air against the DC defense. For offense, DC seemed content to lob the ball deep to try and find Pontius or De Rosario. It didn't really work, but they held on to keep the match scoreless going into halftime.
They certainly changed things going into the second half, coming out with a lot more energy, but again, they really couldn't create any quality chances, save one when Donovan Ricketts managed to shut down De Rosario in a 1 v 1 situation. The longer the game stayed scoreless, the more confident the Impact got. Montreal turned this confidence into chances and then into the first goal of the night.
In the 67th minute, Bernardo Corradi got a pass from Arnaud in the six, but poked his shot just wide of the near post. However, he got it right just two minutes later. This time he got on the end of a gorgeous cross from Lamar Neagle and tucked the ball into the back of the net to make it 0-1 to the Impact.
However, DC United had an ace up their sleeve and his name was Maicon Santos. Santos has been cast off by a couple of teams in the last year, but he's been on fire for DC. He kind of took the team on his shoulder and got them back in the match. In the 72nd minute he knotted the match at 1-1 with a rocket strike from outside the top of the box. Ricketts was helpless to stop it.
Montreal didn't look to be content with the draw though, and they had a great chance to pick up all three points late. In the 87th minute, the Impact got a flurry of chances at the DC goal. Most of the shots were blocked, but the ball finally fell to Arnaud, who looked to have anther great look. However, he once again missed the target, and the match ended 1-1.
The result gave the Impact their first ever road point in MLS, and they played well enough in stretches to earn all three. DC fought back well, but the continuation of their unbeaten streak may ring hollow as they've dropped more points at home.
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