Sure, I could be negative. I could tell you that last night was the quietest I’ve heard RFK Stadium in some time. I could talk about how secondary the reputation of the CONCACAF Champions League appears to be, even for those involved in the competition. I could harp on the poor finishing in the first half of the match, an effort so indicative of numerous D.C. United matches this season — full of exciting offensive potential, but so little return.

But you know what? The 5,280 people who showed up last night came to bang their drums, sing in unison, and make as much noise as they could. And a club who seemed nearly dead in this tournament two weeks ago sprung back to life with a dynamic performance in the second forty-five: United and striker Luciano Emilio overcame to earn what was likely their best result in months, systematically breaking down Marathon of Honduras, 3-0. It’s hard not to be optimistic looking that result in the mouth.

“It still wasn’t perfect, but it was more of a complete performance than we’ve had in a while,” said United coach Tom Soehn.

It was a match in which United would have no excuses to not win the three points. Besides playing at home and coming off a long rest, United’s opponents — due to sizable political unrest at home — had to take an eight-hour bus ride into Guatemala just to get a flight to D.C. Marathon arrived here at 1:30 a.m. on Thursday. Not only that, but the Honduran champions had been handled by Toluca 7-0 in their previous group stage match. The combination of their exhausting travel schedule and the demoralizing loss took its wear on the visitors, as the side’s legs, marking, and temperament on the field were all lacking.

“[We] only played 45 minutes tonight, we didn’t have much energy,” said Marathon coach Manuel Keosseian through an interpreter.

Did Soehn feel bad about his adversaries’ tough road to get to RFK?

“At this point, I don’t feel sorry for [them] at all,” Soehn said, laughing. “Welcome to our life.”