DC United 1:1 Toronto FC. So, so predictable

Well, two poor teams, with only 7 wins between them in 48 games all season got together, you could really see why and it's not really surprising that neither side managed to increase that total. A 1-1 tie filled with poor defending, some poor finishing and the odd bit of good goalkeeping, it was about as sloppy as you'd expect and 1-1 was a fair result.

After a few minutes of confusion (Urruti's not even on the bench? oh wait, yes he is) TFC's lineup was really not a ringing endorsement of Kevin Payne's transfer window efforts,  Jonas Elmer continuing as a sub, joined by Alvaro Rey, replaced in the starting lineup by Reggie bloody Lambe after his underwhelming performance against Columbus.

They got off to a relatively bright start, showing some attacking intent though of course it was the predictable 'get the ball out wide and throw a cross in' tactics that we've all come to expect. Andrew Wiedeman and Jeremy Brockie unsurprisingly weren't really getting on the end of anything.

10 minutes in and DC opened the scoring and of course it was the predictable sight of Dwayne de Rosario once again doing the damage. He'd drifted out to the left wing, Steven Caldwell retreating back to the middle. The midfielders never really picked him up and from a Matias Laba sized hole about 25 yards out, de ro curled one past the dive of Joe Bendik into the top corner. To be fair to him a very pretty goal.

If that was good De Ro, we did of course get the predictable bad De Ro throughout the night. There was a lot of room in that area between the defence and the midfield as DC's attack continued to confuse and cause problems, and de Rosario seemed absolutely determined to add to his tally, taking plenty of shots, none of which really worried Bendik.

The other former TFC player, well Luis Silva did of course have some predictable bad set pieces, and he did of course get a good effort on goal, forcing a fantastic save from Bendik in the second half after some late runners into the box confused TFC's defence and left him unmarked.

It wasn't all one way traffic though, as well as the smart movement up front, DC did of course show some predictably bad defending, repeatedly giving the ball away in dangerous areas, though for the longest time TFC were of course predictably unable to take advantage. Jeremy Brockie did his usual running around, but managed to completely whiff on the one good chance he got, as well as hitting another shot right at the goalie towards the end of the first half.  In the second half, the closest he got was forcing a save from a very very narrow angle, not the greatest choice, there was to be no fairytale ending in this, his last TFC game unless some kind of deal is reached to bring him back next year.

Andrew Wiedeman came a bit closer, making good contact on some chances but not quite getting it on target, just wide, or just too high.  Robert Earnshaw got in on the act in the second half, he had one great chance, played through by Brockie on the right side of the box, but of course he predictably put it wide. In March, that would have been a goal, but after such a bright start his season's been one long fizzle out, very disappointing.

DC just kept giving the ball away though and finally TFC made them pay, Reggie Lambe, briefly popped up on the left wing, and of course, he predictably lost the ball, his pass cut out by a DC defender. Happily, and of course predictably, though that defender's clearance ended up going right back to Lambe, who took the ball into the box before cutting it back to just behind the penalty spot. An onrushing and unmarked Bobby Convey got to the ball and hit a composed finish just inside the post.

After that, aside from a few breaks, including Earnshaw's bad miss and Ashtone Morgan being fouled on the edge of the box, which brought only a yellow card instead of the red you'd expect, it was all DC. Their own lack of quality showed though as they never really came close to troubling Bendik, and so it ended 1-1, neither team good enough to get the win, the movable object meeting the resistible force

Looking at positives, well Doneil Henry did his job. He was one I was expecting to have a real problem with the movement of DC's 'forwards' but he did very well, maintaining his position, not getting dragged out wide or too far up field, a composed and intelligent performance, very good to see. Ashtone Morgan as well, was rampaging down the wing as we haven't seen in a while as well doing the basics okay defensively as well.

So, the status quo remains, TFC still 7 points ahead of DC, and you've got to think that should be enough to make sure they don't fall to the bottom of the Eastern conference, with 9 games left I can't see DC being good enough to make up that difference over any team, even TFC.  At this stage of the season 'it is what it is' is about as much as you can say, take comfort in any small victories you can find. Probably not going to finish last falls into that category.