Saturday night's meeting of D.C. United and Toronto FC looked like a mismatch on paper. An expansion team with the worst record in Major League Soccer lined up against the most decorated club in the league's history and current point leaders. Add D.C.'s distinctive home field advantage and you have a recipe for a blowout. Yet for one half, TFC hung with their hosts.

Indeed, at many points in the first half Toronto was the better team on the field. Though their attacks were not particularly inspired, they created a few chances. They held United goalless while anticipating and adjusting to the home team's offensive tactics. In the 14th minute, striker Carl Robinson scored on an expertly taken free kick just outside United's penalty box. At the half, the 1-0 scoreline was hardly unjust.

The complexion of the game changed thoroughly in the second half. Guy-Roland Kpene found his way to the bench; a lackluster first half and a couple of missed chances made his exclusion the obvious decision. Josh Gros played more memorably than Kpene, but also found his seat on the bench at the 46th minute. In their places coach Tom Soehn inserted veterans Jaime Moreno and Ben Olsen. Their creativity and energy awoke the dormant D.C. attack and put down TFC in one of the more dominating halves I have ever seen.

After five minutes revving their engines, D.C. United poured on four goals in 19 minutes. Twenty subsequent minutes of possession soccer sealed the win. It was as if Toronto's ragtag band of rebels mounted an attack upon the imposing imperial fortress before United's fully armed and operational battle station systematically obliterated its invaders.

Throughout the first half, United essentially employed two attacking strategies: using Fred to make attacking runs into the heart of the TFC defense, and overlapping Marc Burch on the left side to cross the ball into the penalty box. With the addition of Olsen and Moreno, United's attack was no longer predictable. The subs combined with Fred, Luciano Emilio, and Christian Gomez to create sophisticated passing sequences, allowing the attackers to open up the field.

In the 52nd minute, Fred ran toward the penalty box and flicked a backheel to Burch. The former forward reared back and one-timed a screaming shot from 25 yards out. Goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos had little time to react and was unable to stop the shot from soaring into the net.

Five minutes later Fred was running at goal again. This time, the Brazilian witnessed Stamatopoulos a few yards off his line and took hold of the scoring opportunity himself, exquisitely arching a shot past the keeper.

Faced with a deficit, Toronto looked to become more aggressive with the ball, but were struck again. Ben Olsen was fouled and executed a quick restart, passing off to Clyde Simms. The midfielder weighed a through ball to Moreno, who beat the offsides trap and slotted his finish under Stamatopoulos.

United achieved their final tally in the 70th minute. Christian Gomez came within inches of scoring on one of his trademark free kicks, but the ball caromed off the crossbar. It headed straight for Emilio, who executed a stunning shoulder-height volley to put the ball into the net and seal the victory.

With three games left in the season, D.C. United is in prime position to capture the Supporters' Shield and secure home field advantage throughout the MLS Cup playoffs. United's magic number for home field advantage is 5 (United's points + the New England Revolution's dropped points), while their Supporter's Shield number is 8.