It took all of 31 minutes for Dwayne De Rosario to collect three goals and an assist as D.C. United lead 4-0 at halftime against a largely second-choice Real Salt Lake side. The three goals give De Rosario 13 on the season (10 in a D.C. United uniform), good for the MLS lead.
The Canadian international played the helper on United's first goal in the 13th minute, splitting the visitors' defense with a perfect pass that found Andy Najar. The Honduran international used his pace to stay ahead of the chasing defenders before finishing emphatically to Nick Rimando's left.
Then the real show began.
De Rosario hardly had to do anything on his first goal in the 22nd minute, as Najar produced a beautiful arcing cross from the right wing. All De Rosario had to do was glance the ball into the net, and he did just that from about ten yards out with his head.
Five minutes later, De Rosario put United up 3-0 with his second goal. A loose ball from the right was touched into De Rosario's path by his strike partner Josh Wolff, and De Rosario curled the ball past a helpless Rimando from about 25 yards afield.
But the first two markers paled in comparison to De Rosario's third goal, which came from a free kick that had been set up about 30 yards away from goal and was a right-footed strike that curled into the top right corner of Rimando's goal.
Real Salt Lake came back into the game in the last few minutes of the half, but the damage had been done and De Rosario had stolen the show.