United, TFC lock horns at RFK

A pair of struggling Eastern Conference rivals clash on Saturday as D.C. United welcomes Toronto FC to RFK Stadium.

United enters the match riding a two-match losing streak in league play and sits in 10th place in the East with just 13 points from 24 games this season.

Last time out, D.C. went toe-to-toe with playoff contenders Montreal Impact put fell by a 2-1 count at Saputo Stadium.

D.C. hung around for most of the opening 45 minutes, but Montreal found a break through two minutes before the break when Justin Mapp crossed low to the penalty spot from the right flank, and Felipe's dummy fooled United's center backs, leaving the ball for Marco Di Vaio to curl a right-footed strike into the top corner of Bill Hamid's net.

The home side drew level nine minutes from time when promising young striker Conor Doyle when he pounced on a Luis Silva through ball on the outside left and beat Montreal goalkeeper Troy Perkins at the far post.

But it was Di Vaio that put the Impact back in front when he curled a beauty past a powerless Hamid just two minutes later to secure three points for his side.

Additionally, United head coach Ben Olsen will not be on the touchline as he will serve a suspension for an altercation with Montreal head coach Marco Schallibaum.

"I hate to make this about me because we all have learned a lot from an organizational standpoint," Olsen said. "Players, coaches, maybe front office, fans, we all have gone through this together. And that is what I'm proud of is that we're still hanging in there and we're still trying to get better each day and we found ourselves in a final, still."

Toronto. meanwhile, is coming off a 2-0 defeat to the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium last week and sit in ninth place in the Eastern Conference with 20 points from 24 matches.

Toronto fell behind last time out 19 minutes into the match as Chad Barson found Bernardo Anor with a cross, and he fired a shot into Toronto goalkeeper Joe Bendik. The rebound popped out to Federico Higuain and he slotted it home.

Higuain completed his brace in the 67th minute when he floated a perfectly placed chip over the Toronto goalkeeper.

"Our defenders were not really treating the ball with respect and keeping it," Toronto head coach Ryan Nelsen said of his team's effort. "When we did keep it for like four or five passes, generally something half decent happened. We weren't at the office. I'm not going to single out anybody but I think everybody, from one to eleven, wasn't that great."

In 16 all-time meetings between the sides, United holds a 10-4-2 advantage, including a 4-2-2 mark at home.