Dan Bailey kicked a 54-yard field goal in the dying seconds of the match to guide the Dallas Cowboys to a 19-16 win over the Washington Redskins in their NFC East showdown at FedEx Field on Monday evening.

Both teams struggled in the early stages of the match as neither side were able to get on the scoreboard in the first quarter.

The Cowboys opened the scoring in the second quarter when Matt Cassel managed to drive his side into field-goal range and Bailey sent his kick through the posts from 38 yards.

Washington levelled the scores before the break as Kirk Cousins completed a series of passes to take his team into the Cowboys' half of the field before Dustin Hopkins kicked a 45-yarder.

In the second half, the Redskins capitalised on a fumble from Darren McFadden to take the lead as Hopkins converted his second kick of the match from 36 yards.

Jason Garrett's men rallied to get back into the game as Bailey matched his opposite number with a 34-yard effort after solid work by Cassel to move the ball downfield.

The Redskins pushed back ahead when Hopkins nailed a 46-yarder, but then missed the opportunity to hand his side a six-point lead when he failed to send his effort between the posts.

Lucky Whitehead used the short field to rush the Cowboys into the Redskins' half of the field and the visitors advanced towards the goalline, but were held to a field goal due to resilient defending from Jay Gruden's side.

The match looked to be heading towards overtime when Chris Jones punted, but DeSean Jackson fumbled the ball on his 10-yard line as he attempted to find space for a big return.

Dallas took the lead by scoring the first touchdown of the game as McFadden found the endzone by ploughing through the line for a six-yard score and diving over the goalline.

However, the Redskins rallied following a solid return from Rashad Ross and a penalty moved them into range of the endzone before Cousins lofted the ball deep for Jackson for a 28-yard touchdown to level the scores to atone for his error.

There was time for Whitehead to reel off big gain from the kickoff and Cassel did just enough to put the Cowboys in the range of Bailey, who held his nerve to kick his team to a crucial win.

The result keeps the Cowboys alive in the playoff hunt by improving their record to 4-8 in the NFC East, while the Redskins are one game ahead of them at 5-7.