Match Recap: Sporting Kansas City 1-1 DC United

Sporting Kansas City looked good in the first half. Good enough to where it seemed they may be outplaying their Eastern Conference counterparts and might just steal a road win over DC United.

The Black and Red struck a blow to that idea in the 42nd minute, but Dom Dwyer's goal in the 45th gave Sporting KC the equalizer they needed to salvage a draw in Washington D.C.

Sporting KC improved to 14 points on the year and moved up to a tie for fifth in the Western Conference. DC United moved into a tie for first in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand against the New England Revolution with 18 points a piece.

Both teams had their chances in the first half but neither could adequately finish. It wasn't until the 42nd minute that DC United finally broke the tie off a counter. Perry Kitchen sent a diagonal ball to Chris Pontius in the box, who made a nice pass with a back heel that found Jairo Arrieta in the middle of the box. Arrieta dinked it in past a diving Tim Melia to give the home side a 1-0 advantage. This was his second goal of the year and it gave DC United some apparent momentum heading into the locker room.

Dom Dwyer, however, stopped the momentum in its path just a few minutes later. Roger Espinoza muscled his way to the outside of the box on the far side and sent in a low cross. Dom Dwyer had to reach back with his left foot but then powered the ball past Bill Hamid and into the net for his fourth goal of the season. This was just before the half and carried the two teams into the break level at one a piece.

In what has been a continual theme in 2015, Dwyer almost had another goal in the 62nd minute. Benny Feilhaber sent in a tantalizing left-footed cross that found a wide-open Dwyer rising above the defense as he headed the ball near post and into the goal. It was all for naught, however, as Dwyer was offside. This was the latest in his chase for the Marco di Vaio award for most goals scored in an offside position.

DC United's best chance of the half came in the waning moments of stoppage time when a poor clearance from substitute Amadou Dia gave Michael Farfan a chance at a winner. He struck it cleanly but it was just wide of goal, settling the match for a draw.

While Sporting KC did not lose this match, they may have lost Graham Zusi for a bit. He went down in the 77th minute after a collision with Bobby Boswell and had to put a headband on to try and stem the bleeding from the knock. In the 89th minute, Zusi had to come off in what seemed to be an unplanned substitution, looking groggy as a result of the collision with Boswell.

With or without Zusi, Sporting KC returns to the pitch Saturday at home against the Colorado Rapids.