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East rivals clash as TFC battles United

Jun 5, 2015 - 8:21 PM Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) - D.C. United will aim for a third consecutive victory on Saturday when the East leaders welcome Toronto FC to RFK Stadium.

Last time out, United rallied with three unanswered goals to take all three points with a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Fire at home on Wednesday.

Chicago found the opening tally in the 27th minute when Jeff Larentowicz fed the ball to Quincy Amarikwa down the left flank. Amarikwa pressed closer to the end line before sending in an inch-perfect cross to David Accam, who slid in to direct the ball just inside the far post.

But United roared to life in the second half and pulled level on the hour mark as Fabian Espindola swung in a dangerous corner kick and Jairo Arrieta rose to redirect the service perfectly, his glancing header eluding Jon Busch's dive.

Arrieta doubled his total on the night in the 70th minute as he pounced on a mistake and fired it home.

"I think everybody plays better when Fabi [Espndola] comes on the field. I'm very happy for Jairo. I didn't think he had a great first half. Some of that is the product of what's around him; but again when you add quality to the team other guys start to look better."

"I think those two goals are essential for my confidence, and were obviously a big lift for the team," Arrieta said. "Again, I think we understood what our coaching staff wanted out of us tonight, and in the second half we were able to execute that plan."

Toronto, meanwhile, is on the hunt for another win after a 3-1 victory over San Jose last week.

TFC opened the scoring after 22 minutes when Justin Morrow got on the end of a fantastic cross from Sebastian Giovinco and nodded it past San Jose goalkeeper David Bingham with a diving effort.

But San Jose pulled back the equalizer just two minutes later when Chris Wondolowski slotted home from the spot in the 24th minute.

The hosts regained the lead in the 33rd minute when Warren Creavalle got on the end of a loose ball at the top of the box and rocketed it into the bottom right corner.

TFC seized full control in the 71st minute when Luke Moore was in the right place at the right time for a tap-in following an exquisite pass from Giovinco.

"We took a step forward," TFC head coach Greg Vanney said. "Would I say it was perfect for us? No. But, we took a step forward today as a group again today. All in all, I thought it was a great work effort by everybody, a good performance with the ball and we created a lot of chances."

"It's another step in the right direction, for sure," TFC captain Michael Bradley said. "We talked before the game about making sure we followed up last week with another good performance and three more points today."