In a battle of two teams riding lengthy unbeaten streaks, D.C. United looked poised to knock off the San Jose Earthquakes when they delivered the first blow courtesy of a Dwayne DeRosario goal just eight minutes into their match on Wednesday night.
Then San Jose responded. And responded. And responded some more.
The Earthquakes responded to DeRosario's opening goal with a three-goal flurry in 12 first-half minutes to take control, then added two more after D.C. United scored as second, in an eventual 5-3 triumph at Buck Shaw Stadium in San Jose.
Chris Wondolowski and Steven Lenhart scored two goals apiece to lift the Earthquakes to a seven-match unbeaten streak, while snapping D.C. United's own seven-match unbeaten run. Wondolowski's two goals helped him take the league lead in goals scored with ten.
Jon Busch pulled off one of the saves of the season in the first half to deny DeRosario a beautiful second goal of the night, while Justin Morrow added a tally for the Earthquakes, who saw their lead atop the Western Conference extended to three points. The victory also edged San Jose ahead of Sporting Kansas City for most points in MLS with 22 to Kansas City's 21 points.
The loss dropped D.C. United to 4-3-3. United returns to action on Saturday against winless Toronto FC, while the Earthquakes face another tough test on Saturday in Vancouver.
Here are the match highlights:
What did you think of the match? Starting to take San Jose seriously as a title contender? Think Wondolowski has earned another U.S. national team call-up? Surprised D.C. United's defense struggled so badly?
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