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United tie FC Dallas on Moreno's penalty kick

Sep 6, 2009 - 3:24 AM FRISCO, Texas (STATS) - The two most accomplished goal-scorers in MLS history each found the back of the net Saturday night, but a controversial penalty kick determined the outcome.

Jaime Moreno scored his league-record 129th career goal on a penalty kick in the 58th minute to lift DC United into a 2-2 tie with FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park on Saturday night.

The play came after a questionable red card was issued to Dallas defender Daniel Torres for supposedly taking down DC's Santino Quaranta in the penalty area. Replays clearly showed Torres never touched Quaranta.

"If I say anything, I get a fine," Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman said of the call. "I can't say anything. What I will say is, look at the video and make your own conclusion."

Not surprisingly, Quaranta maintained that he did not go down on his own, despite the visual evidence.

"He hit me," said Quaranta, who had two shots on goal. "I should have scored. It was a penalty. He was behind me, not in front of me - he touches me, I'm going down."

"The ref is a human being and like anyone, he learns from his mistakes," FC Dallas goalkeeper Dario Sala said. "(Quaranta) didn't have any angle, he didn't have any shot. The ref buys what he sells."

The draw moved DC (7-5-12) into a five-way tie for the final three MLS playoff spots, while Dallas (6-11-6), which squandered a pair of one-goal leads, saw its flickering post-season hopes fade even further.

"It's definitely frustrating going up twice in a game and letting them back in it," Dallas midfielder Dax McCarty said. "Give credit to DC, but it's tough coming out of here with only one point."

Dallas, which played the final 36 minutes a man short, had gone ahead 2-1 on David Ferreira's fifth goal of the year in the 50th minute.

"It's disappointing for everyone because I thought we did enough things to win," Hyndman said. "David, I thought he was very good tonight, he really played with a lot of passion."

Jeff Cunningham moved into a tie with Ante Razov for second place on the league's all-time goal list with 114, connecting for his 10th of the year just 18 minutes in to put Dallas ahead 1-0.

Moments later, Cunningham almost gave Dallas a two-goal lead when he rang another shot off the goalpost.

Dave van den Bergh assisted on both Dallas goals, giving him a team-high eight and moving him into a tie for second in the league.

DC tied the match just before halftime as Marc Burch scored his first goal of the season off a free kick - his third dangerous free kick of the match. Sala made nice saves on the first two, but the third nicked off the inside of Dallas defender Pablo Ricchetti's foot, changing direction just enough for the ball to elude Sala.

"It was an unlucky play and it cost us," Sala said.