both of those losses coming on the road, and both by 1-0 scores.
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United spent the majority of the first half trying to figure out how to get through a Wizards midfield and back four that was content to soak up the pressure. But even when the Kansas City defenders weren't there to block shots -- as they did on a number of occasions -- United's own players chipped in.
The home side should have gone ahead after eight minutes when Moreno ran into the box from the right and found Earnie Stewart all alone at the penalty spot. But Stewart's first-time blast deflected off teammate Ronald Cerritos and then off the top of the crossbar.
The Wizards looked to break on the counter and win dangerous set pieces. The tactics nearly worked in the 12th minute when a corner kick fell to Jack Jewsbury at the back post, but United 'keeper Nick Rimando got over to parry the sharply rising angled drive.
But United failed to really test Kansas City 'keeper Tony Meola with the shots they did get through. In the 17th minute, Dema Kovalenko pulled down a Cerritos chip, but rolled a tame shot to Meola. On 34 minutes, Ben Olsen finished off a counter with a weak shot, then in the 40th minute Moreno hit a low shot through a forest of legs but Meola easily fell to his left for the stop.
In the 37th minute United coach Peter Nowak tried to change the look of his side, forced by a thigh injury to Olsen. Striker Alecko Eskandarian came in, giving D.C. a three-pronged strike force, with Moreno withdrawn behind Cerritos and Eskandarian.
Yet while the change did little to open up the game for United's attack, it did allow Kansas City to break on the counter with more threat, and in the 57th minute they nearly broke the deadlock. Diego Gutierrez collected a pass at the top of the D and ripped a shot that left Rimando flat-footed -- only for it to come back off the face of the right post.
Nowak had one more change up his sleeve, bringing on 14-year-old Freddy Adu for Cerritos in the 66th minute.
Then in the 75th minute, United finally unlocked the Wizards defense, and it came through a vintage run from Moreno. He collected the ball just beyond the center stripe, and set off on a mazy 40-yard run through the heart of the Kansas City team. At the top of the area he cut back inside Jimmy Conrad and hit a perfectly placed shot inside Meola's left post for the match-winner.
MLSnet.com Man of the Match: Jaime Moreno (D.C. United)
Kansas City Wizards (2-2-2) vs. D.C. United (2-2-3)
May 15, 2004 -- RFK Stadium
Scoring Summary:
DC -- Jaime Moreno 2 (Dema Kovalenko 2) 75
Kansas City Wizards -- Tony Meola, Alex Zotinca (Diego Walsh 81), Jimmy Conrad, Shavar Thomas, Diego Gutierrez, Chris Klein, Jack Jewsbury, Kerry Zavagnin, Francisco Gomez (Matt Taylor 71), Davy Arnaud, Josh Wolff.
Substitutes Not Used: Jose Burciaga Jr., Bo Oshoniyi, Vuk Rasovic.
TOTAL SHOTS: 7 (Davy Arnaud 2, Diego Gutierrez 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (3 tied with 1); FOULS: 13 (Josh Wolff 4); OFFSIDES: 1 (Jimmy Conrad 1); CORNER KICKS: 5 (Chris Klein 2, Diego Walsh 2); SAVES: 4 (Tony Meola 4)
D.C. United -- Nick Rimando, Bryan Namoff, Ryan Nelsen (Mike Petke 73), Brandon Prideaux, Earnie Stewart, Brian Carroll, Dema Kovalenko, Ben Olsen (Alecko Eskandarian 37), Joshua Gros, Ronald Cerritos (Freddy Adu 66), Jaime Moreno.
Substitutes Not Used: Kevin Ara, Eliseo Quintanilla, David Stokes, Doug Warren.
TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Brian Carroll 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Dema Kovalenko 2, Jaime Moreno 2); FOULS: 15 (Bryan Namoff 5); OFFSIDES: 1 (Joshua Gros 1); CORNER KICKS: 6 (Earnie Stewart 6); SAVES: 3 (Nick Rimando 3)
Misconduct Summary:
DC -- Bryan Namoff (caution; Reckless Foul) 77
Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Referee's Assistants:> George Vergara; Kenneth Kaplan
4th Official: Roni Canales
Attendance: 16,147
Time of Game: 1:50
Weather: Partly Cloudy-and-86-degrees
All Statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial.
