Moreno Keeps D.C. On a Winning Roll

United 1, Revolution 0

After a 5-1 thrashing of Columbus on Wednesday night, D.C. United Coach Peter Nowak insisted that May was no time for self-satisfaction. The calendar flipped, one of United's fiercest rivals came to town last night and the result was no different: another happy home crowd, another laughter-filled locker room and three more points.

Powered by a first-half goal from Jaime Moreno, a composed defense and a steady performance from keeper Troy Perkins, United maintained its Eastern Conference dominance with a 1-0 win over the New England Revolution in front of 22,686 at RFK Stadium.

It's been a wondrous few weeks for first-place United, which has the best goal differential in the league, is unbeaten in seven home games and hasn't lost at all since May 6. Confidence, needless to say, is not an issue.

"The team we have right now, we should not lose to anybody in this league; we shouldn't," said Freddy Adu, whose scoreless streak continued despite several electrifying moments and one screaming drive off the crossbar. "When D.C. United comes to play on any given day, we're hard to beat."

Yesterday's meeting was filled with physical contact and strong words, befitting what has become one of the league's best rivalries. The two teams represented the Eastern Conference in the past two MLS Cups, amassing 3-3-3 marks against each other in those seasons.

Adding fuel to the rivalry, United forward Alecko Eskandarian's 2005 season ended after a nasty collision with Revolution keeper Matt Reis last June. Eskandarian has publicly expressed disappointment over Reis's lack of an apology; before last night's game Reis told Eskandarian that he did not mean to hurt him but did not apologize.

If Eskandarian was mollified, it didn't show. In the first 10 minutes, he was involved in two scoring chances against a New England defense playing without James Riley, who strained a tendon in his right ankle last weekend.

That has been something of a theme for injury-ravaged New England, which used a different starting lineup for the eighth straight game. In the 10th minute last night, forward Pat Noonan aggravated a hamstring injury and was replaced by defender Jeff Larentowicz.

This was a problem on several levels. New England's offense has been nearly non-existent away from Gillette Stadium; the Revolution has now been blanked in four consecutive road games.

The substitution also forced yet another defensive reorganization for New England, and the new defense failed almost immediately. In the 14th minute, United midfielder Christian Gomez pushed the ball forward to Moreno as New England's back line attempted to catch him offside. Instead, Moreno collected the ball in open space, deked Reis to the ground and then gently nudged the ball toward the net and past a late-arriving Michael Parkhurst.

Television replays appeared inconclusive, but New England Coach Steve Nicol said after the game that the play was clearly offside. In any case, it was the 101st MLS goal for Moreno, who was honored with a video homage of his previous 100 goals during a pregame ceremony.

Before the half had ended, the teams' bad blood resurfaced. Moreno was dragged down from behind by Jay Heaps, who received a yellow card and an inadvertent elbow to the face. A furious Heaps then got in Moreno's face, lifting his upper lip and attempting to show Moreno the damage his elbow had wrought, while the United forward waved his arm dismissively.

Soon after, Moreno was on the ground again, clutching his bloody mouth; he then exchanged words with New England's Shalrie Joseph. Moreno said Heaps apologized after the game, and the physical play continued in the second half. United's Facundo Erpen received a yellow card for a two-footed tackle, and Eskandarian said several of New England's challenges were dirty.

"I think Jaime and Christian got abused tonight, and I have a message for the other teams: It's not going to work," Nowak said. "We have enough guys who can take the responsibility and we have to do something about it, because Jaime got abused all over the field, Christian the same. The people start kicking them every time they touch the ball. I think they're supposed to play soccer. I was very proud of them, they keep their head in the game, they still kept playing. . . . It doesn't really matter. We have 24 points, we won three games straight and we're going to keep going."