Back-to-back wins have eluded D.C. United for more than two years. FC Dallas has already prevented the club from notching consecutive victories once this season.
United again tries to make it two wins in a row and pick up a rare victory at Pizza Hut Park when they face Dallas on Saturday night.
D.C. (5-5-7) is coming off a surprising 1-0 win over New York last Saturday, handing the Eastern Conference-leading Red Bulls their first home loss in five matches.
Dwayne De Rosario, playing against his former team for the first time since being traded June 27, scored in the 61st minute and Bill Hamid had four saves as United snapped a five-game winless streak.
"What we've been striving to do is stay compact. We did a good job," said Hamid, who had yielded eight goals in his previous four games. "The chemistry is there. You can see it. We came to play."
However, recent history suggests that building on that victory could be tough, as D.C. has not won two straight games since June 4 and 13, 2009. It had a chance to put an end to the incredible drought in its first meeting with Dallas on May 7, having defeated Seattle 2-1 three days earlier, but the teams played to a scoreless draw.
"We have not done a good job of putting good performances after a good performance," coach Ben Olsen told United's official website. "That's our focus right now as a group: putting on consistent performances where we can start moving up the table."
It also could prove difficult for D.C., five points out of a playoff spot, to make up any ground in a road matchup with Dallas (10-5-4).
Dallas is 7-2-2 at Pizza Hut Park, and 2-0-1 against United at home since a 4-0 loss Sept. 1, 2007.
"They've done well at home," De Rosario said. "We have to be mentally focused for a tough challenge."
Dallas defeated Real Salt Lake 2-0 in the quarterfinal round of the U.S. Open Cup tournament Tuesday, avenging Saturday's 2-0 loss to RSL in an MLS game. Dallas had outscored opponents 8-1 in winning three in a row prior to last weekend's defeat.
"Soccer gives you a chance to get revenge and this was one of those ones,'' Dallas defender Jair Benitez said through an interpreter. "Luckily, it came fast so we could just get it out of the way and take care of business.''
Benitez and Jackson Goncalves scored Tuesday, and Kevin Hartman, the MLS leader with nine shutouts this season, blanked Salt Lake without making a save.
Hartman earned his second shutout of 2011 against D.C. in May, finishing with three saves.
