D.C. United left the field last night earning two less points than they should have. The circumstances of their disappointing 1-1 draw with Monarcas Morelia were among soccer's most frustrating; United conceded a late goal to a 10-man opponent.

In letting the win slip away, United could blame excruciatingly inconsistent officiating. They could point to RFK's shoddy infield as a source of their misfortune. They could take refuge in the fact that Morelia's goal was the result of a wonder strike and not a defensive breakdown. All of these factors would have been moot, however, if United had finished the many chances afforded to them and bolstered their lead.

Among the 13,335 in attendance at RFK were a smattering of Monarcas supporters. In a rare opportunity to catch their team visiting the area, they had to be disappointed after a first half in which the home team dominated. In only the 7th minute, United scored with relative ease.

Luciano Emilio was fouled about seven yards from the penalty area as he fought for positioning to receive a long ball. Christian Gomez (as he often does) took full advantage of the ensuing free kick and hooked an unstoppable shot around the wall and inside the near post.

Photos by Kyle Gustafson

The remainder of the first half was dominated by United. They maintained possession and pushed forward deliberately, while Monarcas had no significant chances. In the 35th minute, United had a sure-fire chance to tally another goal. Fred held the ball on the left wing, and with skill and timing he slotted a ball through the legs of a Monarcas defender to connect with forward Rod Dyachenko. As Dyachenko aggressively took the ball into the box toward goal, he drew in the goalkeeper and two defenders. At the opportune time, Dyachenko crossed to Emilio, but the ball took a bad hop off of RFK's infield seams. The ball soared off of Emilio's shin and over the crossbar, missing the open net by a foot.

Though the start of the second half saw much of the same action as the first, the game took an ugly turn in the 55th minute. As center back Bobby Boswell marked Luis Landin, the Morelia forward began tugging Boswell in the nether regions. Boswell responded with a swift kick to the groin. Landin retaliated with a shove, and the two teams rushed to a midfield scrum. Boswell received a yellow card for his infraction, while Landin was sent off with a direct red.

Now up a man on Monarcas, United held a firm grasp on the match. Though Monarcas pushed more fervently on attack, the home team was able to respond with promising results. Nicholas Addlery, a 67th minute sub for the cramping Dyachenko, collected the ball in the corner and managed to backheel through two defenders. Emilio then served a fantastic cross through the box, but Gomez blew his chance by skying his shot.

Despite being a man down, Morelia began building momentum when they had two chances with only GK Troy Perkins in front of them; on one they were thwarted by the goal post, and on the other they were betrayed by a shot directly at Perkins.

Not long after, the momentum culminated in a goal. Monarcas wisely changed fields on attack and found forward-minded defender Diego Martinez near the corner of the penalty area. He did well by manipulating the ball to bounce in front of him, then unleashed a scorching hellfire missile of a shot over Perkins and into the upper 90 of the net.

With only ten minutes remaining, Monarcas retreated into a defensive shell, not even bothering to send a token attacker forward. United pressured and almost scored on one of their many corner kicks, but could not solve the clogged Morelia defense.

Though the final whistle drew some initial booing from the crowd, cheers were eventually elicited as the crowd realized that despite some questionable calls from the head ref, they had witnessed a nice night of soccer. The game was a passionate affair; it was clear that United were not treating the game as a meaningless exhibition, just as Monarcas did not see it as a preseason tune-up. And though tempers flared during the game, post-game handshakes and embraces seemed to indicate mutual respect, even for a bitter rival.

The next installment of the SuperLiga comes on Sunday, when United host Club América at 8 p.m.