Je-Vaughn Watson's tiebreaking goal in the 77th minute lifted FC Dallas to a 2-1 victory over D.C. United on Saturday night.
Jackson also scored for league-best Dallas (7-1-3), which extended its unbeaten streak to 7-0-2. Dallas also improved to 6-0-1 at home while outscoring opponents 12-4.
''That was a great result for us,'' Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman said. ''Je-Vaughn Watson told me yesterday that he was going to score today, so he's good for his word. It was a great three points for us.''
Watson's first goal of the season was set up by Michel's corner kick that bounced past several players on both teams before hitting Watson's stomach near the far post and rolling in.
''That's the easiest goal I'll ever get in my life,'' Watson said. ''I don't care how it comes, as long as it's a goal and I'm there to finish it. It's a big confidence-boost for me.''
Watson dedicated the goal to his mother, who he will not get to see on Mother's Day.
''I called my mom before the game and I tell her I can't get her a gift, so I'd make sure I score for her tonight,'' said Watson, in his first season in Dallas after spending two with Houston. ''The last week in practice, I've been scoring a lot of goals in practice, so I came into the game tonight determined to score.''
Dwayne DeRosario scored the only goal for United (1-8-1), which lost a franchise-record seventh straight contest by a combined margin of 18-4.
''It's another loss, so it's disappointing again,'' DeRosario said. ''I thought we did well in certain parts of the game. Hats off to the guys, they gave it everything they had tonight, but it wasn't enough.''
DeRosario's tying goal in the 44th minute was the first one allowed by FC Dallas in the first half all season and represented the D.C. captain's 101st career goal, tying him with Taylor Twellman for sixth on MLS' all-time list.
''If we won, it would have been a lot sweeter,'' DeRosario said. ''It's just tough for me right now, eight games with no wins, it's tough. But it's obviously a huge honor. Taylor's a good friend of mine, a guy that I've had many battles with in many MLS Cups, so to be up there with a player like that, it's huge.''
United, which was embarrassed 4-0 at home by Houston on Wednesday, had three players making their first starts of the season, including goalkeeper Joe Willis who had three saves.
''I was proud of the overall commitment and the way they went about things tonight,'' D.C. coach Ben Olsen said. ''I thought the spirit was good. It looked like a team that cared and wanted to dig themselves out of a situation that we're in.''
FC Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz made two saves in just his second appearance of the season.
After D.C. controlled the ball for much of the first 15 minutes of the second half, Dallas began to press again, just missing on several good opportunities, including Eric Hassli's point-blank header that sailed just wide in the 62nd.
D.C. nearly got on the scoreboard first when Casey Townsend, in his first start and second appearance this season, broke in alone in the 9th minute and drilled a 10-yard blast off the right post.
Jackson, back in the lineup after serving a one-game suspension for a red card, put Dallas on top two minutes later with his third goal of the year. Hassli, making his first start for Dallas after coming off the bench on six prior occasions, found a wide open Jackson about 10 yards out for a nice chip shot that sailed past Willis into the upper left corner.
Dallas almost got another one less than a minute later when Hassli boomed a 18-yard volley just over the crossbar.
D.C. had a chance to tie it in the 31st minute when DeRosario's 25-yard shot from the left wing deflected off Blas Perez's leg and forced Seitz to make a diving save.
DeRosario tied it in the 43rd minute off a free kick awarded to D.C. after Jackson reached out and pulled DeRosario down just beyond the penalty area. On the free kick, Kyle Porter tapped it less than a foot to Nick DeLeon, who left it for the charging DeRosario, whose low shot beat Seitz just inside the right post.
It was DeRosario's first goal of the season and the 13th of his career against Dallas.
The goal was also D.C.'s first on the road this year, as they've been outscored 8-1 while compiling an 0-4-1 away record.
''I'm proud of those guys,'' Olsen said. ''There are some positives, but it's still the same old things haunting us, the plays that we're doing to ourselves.''
Dallas played without star midfielder David Ferreira, who suffered a strained hamstring Wednesday night in a 1-1 draw against Portland. It is not clear how much longer Ferreira, the 2010 MLS MVP, will be out.
