United 2, Rapids 0

Dwayne De Rosario scored in the first half, and Hamdi Salihi

added his first goal at RFK Stadium in the second to help D.C.

United beat the Colorado Rapids 2-0 on Wednesday night.

United (6-4-3) is undefeated in six home games after opening the

season with a 1-0 loss to Kansas City.

Matt Pickens made eight saves for the Rapids (5-6-0). They went

1-2 on a three-game trip.

The Rapids, shut out for the third time this season, are 1-8-5

in Washington since 2000.

Salihi, signed as a designated player from Austrian club Rapid

Vienna this winter, scored twice in United’s recent three-game

trip.

After twice forcing saves from Pickens on close-range headers,

Salihi got his first home goal in the 60th minute, sweeping in the

rebound of Branko Boskovic’s header.

De Rosario put United ahead in the 25th minute when he reached

Lewis Neal’s diagonal ball after Neal turned a midfield giveaway

into a counterattack.

It was Neal’s first assist of the season, in just his second

start.

Two minutes later, Pickens made two impressive saves to keep

Colorado in it, pushing over De Rosario’s deflected shot before

thwarting Robbie Russel’s header off Boskovic’s corner. Pickens

also denied Salihi’s goal-bound effort, also from Boskovic’s corner

kick, 2 minutes into the second half.

Bill Hamid needed just two saves to preserve United’s fourth

shutout of the season. United will play twice more at home during

the next 10 days, then won’t return until a June 30 game against

Montreal.

The Rapids will play five of their next six games at home.