A frantic start in DC held up for a great deal of the first half with Seattle having more of the dangerous possession but DC United making theirs count. It appeared as though the Sounders had gone ahead around the 25 minute mark when Nate Jaqua's goal was called back due to hand ball from Brad Evans. It appeared as though the contact was initiated due to contact from a DC defender, but Seattle's calls for the goal to stand or a penalty to be awarded were waved off by the referee.
The recalled goal seemed to take some of the steam out of the Sounders attack and DC capitalized, giving Seattle a major scare when Andy Najar's volleyed laser from the edge of the box found the post instead of the back of Kasey Keller's net. The Sounders were not so lucky the next time DC pressed on the attack, as Charlie Davies ran towards the touchline and sent a perfect low cross that needed only the slightest encouragement to fly past a helpless Keller and put United ahead. DC had several more dangerous chances as the Sounders looked quite disorganized at the back, failing to clear their lines on several occasions.
On the whole of things, Seattle has looked plenty dangerous and though DC deserve credit for their brilliantly executed counter attacking play the Sounders looked out of sorts in defense rather than truly over-matched. There are still goals in this game; the distribution of the points is going to be dependent on which side can take advantage of their opportunities. If the balance of play mirrors that of the first half Seattle will have more of those opportunities, but they'll need to execute far better than they've managed to this point and with DC a goal to the good, they'll be digging in their heels in search of a much-needed win.