In what was supposed to be a great homecoming for DC United, it turned out to leave a sour taste in the mouths of the home fans after they watched their beloved DC United give up four goals for the fourth time this season.  Steven Lenhart picked apart a dire performance from the young back line as well as beating Bill Hamid to a ball in the air that the keeper should never have gone for to score 3 and assist on one.  Even without Chris Wondolowski, the Earthquakes looked the better side on attack and are heading home with three points.

It was Andy Najar bobble head night at RFK and the fans were ready to see a side that had come home from a promising away trip and would continue that streak.  Even with the energy buzzing around the stadium, it was San Jose who piled on the pressure to start the game.  DC was forced to defend en masse for the first ten minutes as the Earthquakes looked for that opening goal that they hoped would define the game.  It was the red and black, however, that opened the scoring in the 13th minute.  Andy Najar prodded home a great pass from Josh Wolff that passed four Earthquake defenders before it found the Honduran.  The goal was Najar’s first of the season and would lead to one of the few strong performances from a DC United player.  Fans were silenced only moments later when miscommunication between Perry Kitchen and Ethan While allowed Lenhart to beat the offside trap and easily beat Bill Hamid for the equalizer.  San Jose would then take the lead in the 22nd minute when Hamid couldn’t keep the ball from a shot outside of the box and with no defender there to clear the danger, Lenhart got his second by poking the ball into the net.  The scoring frenzy continued when 12 minutes later Chris Korb found rookie Blake Brettschneider and the 4th round draft pick made a great individual move to hold off his defenders, turn and shoot into the near post eluding the San Jose keeper.  Even though both teams were looking for that go ahead goal in the final 10 minutes, the half time whistle blew with both sides wanting more.

Fans hoped that DC United would fix their defensive mistakes at half time and bring on Charlie Davies and Dax McCarty to pull away from the Earthquakes.  While Davies and McCarty did make appearances, it wasn’t until after the home side had already gone behind due to more mistakes that weren’t fixed during the break.  Not even 4 minutes into the start of the second half Simon Dawkins, who was just subbed into the game, played a nice one two with Lenhart to again beat a confused back line and finished solidly to give the visiting side an early lead.  To finish off DC’s disappointing performance, in the 60th minute after a suspect call to give San Jose a free kick, a poor clearance brought the ball back into the mix of things.  Hamid came off of his line to the surprise of everyone, but was too late and Lenhart completed his hat trick by heading the ball over the keeper and into the net.  United coach Ben Olsen made some very aggressive substitutes, but it wasn’t enough to get DC back on the score sheet and at the final whistle it was San Jose 4, DC United 2.

On Saturday evening DC United will attempt to extend their five game unbeaten run against the San Jose Earthquakes in the first match between these two sides this season. The Earthquakes are themselves on a seven game unbeaten run so this match will feature two inform teams looking to keep their momentum heading into the middle of the season. DC United returns home after a two game road trip in which they took 4 points — 3 from the Portland Timbers and 1 from the LA Galaxy. The Earthquakes meanwhile will start a road trip that will also include a match in Kansas City before returning home to host the Galaxy.

DC United has had impressive home form, barring an embarrassing 4-0 loss to the Red Bulls, and are backed by their diehard supporters. It will be just under a month since the black and red have hosted a league match at RFK Stadium when they drew with MLS Champion Colorado Rapids. DC were one of two teams to first break the cross-coast win streak with their win at Portland and now San Jose will look to do the same. The Earthquakes will be looking to keep the intensity from their match against Houston alive where they pressured the goal incessantly and were led by a remarkable performance from their keeper, Jon Busch.

San Jose has shown some great second half performances recently and are being dubbed by their local media as a second half team. When Steven Lenhart was asked about how the club has become so dominant in the second half he joked, “We just come in here and have dance parties and then everyone’s good to go.” DC United has also picked up some points in the second half this season, most notably with their opening match against Columbus, the home match against the Galaxy and most recently, the two goals they scored against Portland.

Ben Olsen went on the local alternative rock station where he is long time friends with the morning show DJ. When asked about the upcoming match against San Jose he was optimistic about the game. “There’s no team that is unbeatable, it’s so close [between teams] the way the league sets it up. Right now we should start getting some real points. We should not focus on being a team that is just in it, we need to be a little more cutthroat and get 3 points. We play San Jose and they are as hot as anyone right now and it’s two teams that are hot right now and it will be a good event.” When Olsen was asked how the team is approaching the game against the Olsen reiterated his stance about every player giving it their all. “In games we’ve done well in we’ve been outworking teams and we’ve been outfighting teams. Games that have haunted us we just haven’t been as clinical in the final third.”

The work ethic by the club will be strengthened by the fact that both Dax McCarty and Charlie Davies put in strong performances in the mid-week reserve game against the New England Revolution. Both players played a solid 45 minutes and look to ease their way back into a starting job after injuries sustained in recent weeks. The return of the two stars that have anchored United’s resurgence this year will help the work rate and backed by the home fans United should be able to pick up 3 points if they can finish the chances that their midfield have become accustomed to creating.

Editor’s note: DC United against San Jose Earthquakes will air on MLS Direct Kick Saturday, June 11 at 7:30pm ET.