before lightning forced a delay of nearly 40 minutes just a few minutes after the restart for the second half.
Then barely two minutes after the game again started, United struck. Clyde Simms free Josh Gros on the right, and he whipped in a low, curling cross that Moreno slipped in to knock home with the slightest of flicks. It was his ninth goal on the season, second to Chivas USA's Ante Razov, and the 103rd of his MLS career, one behind RSL's Jason Kreis.
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The Wizards were shut out for the first time on the season in seeing their two-game winning streak put to an end on Saturday. They now have 20 points from 13 matches, 12 behind United and four points ahead of third-place Columbus Crew.
TEAM NEWS
Wizards head coach Bob Gansler made two changes to the team that defeated the Chicago Fire 3-2 at home the weekend before. Matt Groenwald returned to the starting lineup, coming to a wide midfield role in place of Lance Watson. Jack Jewsbury also returned to the team in an attacking role, replacing Alex Zotinca.
Here's Gansler's team (3-4-2-1): Bo Oshoniyi - Tyson Wahl, Shavar Thomas, Nick Garcia - Matt Groenwald (Lance Watson 76), Sasha Victorine, Kerry Zavagnin, Jose Burciaga Jr. - Jack Jewsbury (Ryan Pore 66), Davy Arnaud - Scott Sealy (Alex Zotinca 71). [Substitutes Not Used: Will Hesmer, Jermaine Hue, Ryan Raybould, Brian Roberts]
"I think they were disappointed that we couldn't get something to come together. We got shots off, we had shots on goal, but United was a good team. And for sure, when they got the first goal, they were the better team," Gansler said. "I thought we did OK in the first half; we changed a couple of little things and obviously we weren't quite ready for the second beginning of the second half."
The Wizards went into the first game of the home-and-home set with United over four days with a chance to really narrow the gap, nine points back with a pair of games in hand. They still have the two games in hand, but now are 12 points back and just one more six-pointer left between the clubs.
"The onus is on us for the form," Gansler said. " ... It's about their guys and our guys. And that's our frustration, so we lost to them three times this year. Had we been right against the wall in any one of those three ... it's not a boxing match. It's not about points gathered, it's about knockout blows."
Gansler admitted that the break broke his players' concentration, but refused to allow the situation to be an excuse for the mental breakdown.
"These guys are polished," he said. "They have to be able to deal with that and we weren't quite alert and up. Once again, to D.C.'s credit, they worked, because they went from the halfway line into our goal in the second minute of play (after the weather delay). We've got to learn from that."
Said midfielder Kerry Zavagnin to the Kansas City Star: "It seems like any time there's a delay like that in any game, any sport, one team comes out and they're not mentally ready. Everything that we talked about during that intermission, we come out two minutes later and fail to execute. It wasn't a lack of understanding, just mentally we weren't sharp."
It was also the fourth loss in seven games for the Wizards without their trio of World Cup performers. But Eddie Johnson, Josh Wolff and Jimmy Conrad are not expected to be available for selection for the return match against United.
"The story is that these guys have got to come themselves and statistics are for losers," Gansler said. "But they do point out that D.C. is on the way to win and congratulations to them for that. When those guys come back, we'll welcome them and we'll figure it out."D.C. UNITED
D.C. United extended their unbeaten streak to nine games and lengthened their lead atop not only the Eastern Conference but also the MLS overall table, with a second 1-0 victory on the week. United now have 32 points from 15 matches, 12 ahead of the Wizards in the division and five better than Western Conference leader FC Dallas.
TEAM NEWS
United boss Peter Nowak made one change to the team that defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0 at home at midweek. Devon McTavish was give his first MLS start, coming in at a wide midfield role in place of Domenic Mediate, out with concussion.
Here's Nowak's team (3-4-2-1): Troy Perkins - Bryan Namoff, Bobby Boswell, Facundo Erpen - Joshua Gros, Brian Carroll, Clyde Simms, Devon McTavish (John Wilson 76) - Christian Gomez (Santino Quaranta 80), Freddy Adu - Jaime Moreno (Justin Moose 89). [Substitutes Not Used: Rod Dyachenko, Jeff Carroll, Ryan McIntosh, Matt Nickell]
"We didn't play well in the first half. The first 50 minutes before the break, we had a couple of good shots from distance, but that was it," Nowak said. "So, we didn't have anyone really up top, with Freddy (Adu) and Jaime playing. Mostly, they were withdrawn strikers.
Nowak entered the game with a looming injury crisis in his strike force - including Moreno, who suffered what appeared to be a significant leg injury four nights earlier against the Chicago Fire. Alecko Eskandarian missed a third consecutive game with a knee strain, Jamil Walker was out with a lower back injury and Lucio Filomeno was not with the club, in his native Argentina.
"We're glad to have Jaime (Moreno) back. One day, after the Wednesday game, we didn't know how long he's going to be out and, the next thing you know, he's scoring the winning goal," Nowak said. Said Moreno: "It hurts a little bit, but we decide when I talked to coach. I felt well yesterday in practice. I did a couple moves that you need to do before the game so I knew I was fine, but still I got my MRI done and (it) shows there wasn't any knee damage. I was a little bit concerned, but once I was cleared I was ready to go."
In addition, goalkeeper Nick Rimando was thought to be ready to return, but was out with a leg contusion. Domenic Mediate was out with a concussion, and Ben Olsen was not considered after returning from World Cup duty. But Santino Quaranta, who had played only 15 minutes all season, came on for Christian Gomez for the final 10 minutes.
"I think he is fully fit. It's important to give him some minutes right now so he will feel like a part of this team. It's difficult, if you are more than a couple of weeks away from this team and you just do running, fitness and you don't touch the ball," Nowak said. "Now, after this last week, two weeks, he start to do a lot of work with the ball. The 10, 15 minutes you give him every single game, he will benefit from that and we will look forward to putting him in the games when some guys will struggle mentally-wise or soccer-wise."
It was a third consecutive shutout at home for United and Perkins. "I think Troy has a lot of shutouts. It's good to keep this going, keep him in form, and he's very sharp in the practice. So, it's difficult to tell him that he's going to have time off. I think right now it's like that, and we will see how he feels," Nowak said. "We're going to ask every player how he feels before the games we will have, and we're going to adjust to the situation. A couple of guys are going to be back from injuries and we have to make a good rotation for the players, make sure that if they're going to come in, they're going to perform. That's the main point."
As far as Olsen, Nowak felt it was better to keep him out of the team. "I know it's difficult when you come back, the time difference you always feel for a whole week or two weeks. You still have it in your system and we have, right now, the guys who can fill the spot for him," Nowak said. "We will see, we will ask him what is the best option, given that we're going to give him a couple of days, see how he feels. We have another game in Kansas City on Wednesday, so we will see if he's going to be available or not. If he's not, then we're going to wait for the game against Dallas on the Fourth of July."
United is happy to finally have more than a few days between games - they will not play this week, returning to action on July 4. "Yeah, we need a break. It's not only the physical part, but the mental part. The schedule is going to be like that. It's going to be hot weather, difficult weather conditions. We've got to go through. You have to fight through, running and fighting," Nowak said. "Sometimes, the soccer is not great. This is not what we're looking for, but you have to fight through it with running, fighting, scratching, grabbing. We are always going to fight for the three points."
