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FC Dallas-United Preview

Aug 13, 2010 - 5:39 PM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

FC Dallas (7-2-9) at D.C. (3-13-3), 8:00 p.m. EDT

Despite getting little production from Jeff Cunningham, FC Dallas hasn't lost in 2 1/2 months.

Cunningham broke out of his lengthy scoring drought last weekend, and that doesn't bode well for hapless D.C. United.

Cunningham looks to move closer to D.C. forward Jaime Moreno's MLS goal record and help Dallas extend its unbeaten streak to 10 on Saturday night against United, which is trying to avoid its second five-game losing streak of the season.

Cunningham scored four goals in his first six games this season, then went nine matches without scoring before netting two in a 3-1 win over Philadelphia on Sunday. He scored on a header in the 75th minute to break a tie and added another goal six minutes later to help Dallas (7-2-9) move to 5-0-4 since May 27.

"(Cunningham) scored two nice goals but that's what he does," coach Schellas Hyndman told Dallas' official website. "He was very anxious to get scoring again. Hopefully that's a sign of things to come."

Cunningham's last goal prior to Sunday came in the 68th minute of a 1-0 win at D.C. on May 8. He has three goals in his last four games against United.

By breaking out of his slump, Cunningham boosted his career goal count to 127 - five fewer than Moreno's league-record total.

Moreno, the only player in league history with 100 goals and 100 assists, announced Thursday that this will be his last season with D.C. The 36-year-old has spent all but one season of his 15-year career with United and might go to his native Bolivia to play.

Like his team, Moreno is enduring a disappointing season, recording one goal in 16 games.

D.C (3-13-3) has the fewest points in MLS with 12 and has scored the fewest goals (12) while giving up the second most (32). Since defeating Seattle 3-2 on June 10, the club is 0-5-2, scoring twice and getting shut out five times.

United need 13 scores in their final 11 games to avoid matching the league mark for fewest goals in a season, set by Toronto FC in 2007.

"We just need to focus on the next game, getting back to having some joy out there and scoring goals, and celebrating goals," midfielder Stephen King told United's official website. "Once we start doing that, I think the whole entire thing will turn around."

Playing its first match under interim coach Ben Olsen, D.C. created several scoring opportunities last Saturday but lost 1-0 to New England, its fourth straight defeat. United finished with 13 shots, their most in five games.

"The beauty of that is, all it takes is one goal to get back on a scoring streak," Olsen said. "You can't over think it. We realize it's an issue, but we can't over think it. If we play the way we played this (past) weekend, that's going to take care of itself, at some point."