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Fred leads D.C. United over struggling Toronto FC

Aug 26, 2007 - 3:29 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Just minutes after Toronto FC set an MLS mark for futility, D.C. United striker Fred showed them what a goal looks like.

Fred's tally in the eighth minute was all United needed to register a 1-0 victory over Toronto FC on Saturday night.

By failing to score in the first five minutes, Toronto extended its scoreless streak to a league-record 558 minutes, surpassing the old mark set by Real Salt Lake in 2005.

Toronto (5-12-5) has not scored in the last 642 minutes and has not won since July 7. The expansion franchise did come close to tallying in the sixth minute, but a flurry of shots failed to find the mark.

"We were missing a couple key players," Toronto coach Mo Johnston said. "We managed the game fairly well, but we just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net. (The crowd is) waiting for that goal. So are we, we're anticipating it.

"Tonight wasn't the night, and that's unfortunate. Like I said, I thought we played fairly well. I'm not interested in records, however."

After United cleared the ball in the eighth minute, Fred slipped past the defense, took a through ball from Troy Perkins down the left side and fired a shot that deflected off the foot of goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos and dribbled in.

"It was a long ball through by Perkins and I just kept my run going," Fred said through a translator. "I looked back to see if there was anybody there to play the ball to. When I didn't see anyone, I decided to take it on myself. Switched it to the right foot and cut it back, went of the goalie's foot. A little bit lucky."

"I felt we played hard," Toronto midfielder Maurice Edu said. "We're in a bad slump, bad luck right now. A couple bounces could have gone our way. We had a few headers that could have gone in on a different day. The goal they got was a quick counter-attack, which was unlucky on our part."

Toronto, which is winless in its last eight matches, had plenty of opportunities to break the goalless streak, outshooting United, 12-5, and dominating the action after Fred's goal.

"I felt that we left everything on the field tonight," Johnston said. "I felt we played well. They really only had one chance. We were unfortunate. Tonight, the team played well as a whole. We worked hard for each other, but we just couldn't get a break. Sometimes you just need a lucky break, and that's what this team needs now."

Perkins made two saves for United (12-6-3), which has won five straight contests.

"We need to keep working the same way, believe in the way we play, not relax too much, because that would hurt us," United forward Jaime Moreno said of the winning streak. "We need to keep believing in what we are doing and things should fall the same for us down the road."

Stamatopoulos made four saves for Toronto.