D.C. United Vs. FC Dallas Player Ratings: Have United Found A Back Line?

Ben Olsen sang the praises of his defense after Saturday night's goalless draw, and we can't help but agree with him.

D.C. United Vs. FC Dallas: Hartman's Save Preserves Goalless Draw (VIDEO)

D.C. United played to their first goalless draw of the season as a fantastic point-blank save by Kevin Hartman denied Fred a golden opportunity to win the match in the last minute of regular time.

Fred, who'd come on as a substitute for Chris Pontius in the 81st minute of the match, found himself with the game-winning goal on his head after Josh Wolff, a substitute himself, did wonderful work down the right-hand side to get himself free for a cross to the six-yard area. However, Hartman threw himself to his right to deny the Brazilian a winning goal.

Despite the excitement at the very end, in truth a point was about what either side deserved to take from this game. The strain of playing three matches in nine days began to tell on the home side, and they looked noticeably more lethargic in the second half. However, FC Dallas was unable to take advantage of this, and barely mustered any clear-cut chances in the second half.

D.C. United Vs. FC Dallas: Scoreless First Half At RFK (VIDEO)

For the first time since their season-opening win over Columbus March 19, D.C. United have gone into halftime locked in a goalless draw. This time FC Dallas is on the other side of the stalemate after a first half in which true scoring chances were few and far between at RFK.

It looked as though goals would come early and often in the first ten minutes of the match as United got their best chance of the first half just past the seven-minute mark. A long ball from United's own half by left-back Daniel Woolard was not dealt with properly at all by Brek Shea, who headed it right into the path of Charlie Davies. However, the striker's first touch failed him, and Kevin Hartman alertly ran out to take the ball off Davies' foot. Andy Najar was on the mark to collect the loose ball, and had a good sight of goal with Hartman down by the penalty spot, but the Honduran's shot was cleared off the line by Ugo Ihemelu.

The visitors did not have any chances nearly as good as that one, though Dejan Jakovic nearly put the ball in his own net off a long throw-in in the 39th minute only to see the ball slide harmlessly wide of Bill Hamid's net.

Despite the early fireworks, the first half was generally a poor advertisement for MLS as neither team could quite get an upper hand on the proceedings and were distinctly lacking in attacking quality. It was also rather remarkable that referee Baldomero Toledo chose not to show a yellow card in the whole first half, despite several hard challenges from both sides. In particular, both Najar and Davies were slow to get up after challenges from FC Dallas players, and both Perry Kitchen and Woolard could have easily been booked for bundling over Fabian Castillo and Marvin Chavez, respectively.

D.C. United Vs. FC Dallas: Ben Olsen Partners Joseph Ngwenya With Charlie Davies; Stephen King Makes First Start of 2011

No doubt as a result of tonight's match being United's third in nine days, Ben Olsen has made two changes to the line-up that started Wednesday night's 2-1 victory over Seattle. Zimbabwean striker Joseph Ngwenya will partner Charlie Davies up front, while Stephen King will make his first league start of 2011 as he replaces Clyde Simms in midfield.

Full D.C. United Starting Line-up: Bill Hamid (GK), Perry Kitchen, Ethan White, Dejan Jakovic, Daniel Woolard, Andy Najar, Stephen King, Dax McCarty (Captain), Chris Pontius, Joseph Ngwenya, Charlie Davies

Available D.C. United Substitutes: Steve Cronin (GK), Chris Korb, Clyde Simms, Marc Burch, Santino Quaranta, Fred, Josh Wolff

FC Dallas Starting Line-up: Kevin Hartman (GK), Brek Shea, George John, Ugo Ihemelu, Zach Loyd, Marvin Chavez, Daniel Hernandez (Captain), Andrew Jacobson, Eric Avila, Fabian Castillo, Milton Rodriguez

FC Dallas Substitutes: Chris Seitz (GK), Moises Hernandez, Bobby Warshaw, Eric Alexander, Ruben Luna, Ricardo Villar, Andrew Wiedeman

D.C. United Vs. FC Dallas: United Midfielder Dax McCarty Suits Up Against His Former Team

D.C. United will look to win back-to-back MLS games for the first time this season as they host last year's MLS Cup finalists, FC Dallas, tonight at RFK Stadium. Tonight's match will be particularly memorable for D.C. United midfielder Dax McCarty, who was drafted by FC Dallas with the 6th overall pick of the 2006 MLS SuperDraft and played for the club through last season. McCarty was left unprotected by Dallas in the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft, and he was subsequently taken by the Portland Timbers, who traded him to D.C. United for Rodney Wallace and a 4th-round pick in last January's SuperDraft.

FC Dallas (3-3-1) at D.C. United (3-4-1)

Place: RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Time: 7:30 p.m.

TV: None unless you have the Direct Kick package. CSN doesn't get back into the groove until next Saturday's home match against Colorado.

Team News and Tactics

D.C. United: Clyde Simms and Chris Pontius, who both picked up calf injuries in Wednesday night's 2-1 win over Seattle, have been passed fit to play and are expected to start. Defender Marc Burch missed Wednesday night's game with a hamstring injury, but he is available to play, though it is by no means a certainty that he'll start. The condition of Kurt Morsink (concussion) has reportedly improved, but even if he is in uniform, he'll likely start on the bench. Look for Charlie Davies and Josh Wolff to be paired up front for a fifth straight league game and for Andy Najar to get another start on the right side of midfield.

FC Dallas: Dallas will be without first-choice left-back Jair Benitez, who suffered a nasty-looking knee injury in Dallas' 2-1 home win over the Los Angeles Galaxy last Sunday. Expect Zach Loyd to come into the side tonight to pick up the slack there, while Marvin Chavez is expected to come into the right side of midfield alongside Andrew Jacobson. Look for Schellas Hyndman to play a 4-1-4-1 formation with Fabio Castillo leading the line and Daniel Hernandez playing the defensive midfield position.

Key to the Game

McCarty has a point to prove: If there was ever a good time for Dax McCarty's talents to be on display, this would be it. Dallas has some excellent young midfield talent in Jacobson, Brek Shea, and Eric Avila, but McCarty will surely want to show his former club that they made a big mistake in leaving him unprotected over the winter.

Bonus Miscellaneous Fact

D.C. United has not won back-to-back league games since June 2009, when they followed up a 2-0 win over New York Red Bulls with a 2-1 triumph over Chicago.