Hairy Situation
United found itself one goal down at the end of the first half. The players were stone-faced as they walked off the field. Colorado's score came on an own-goal against the run of play, after United had dominated but had been unable to get the ball into the Rapids' net.
United, in the wake of a long layoff and celebrating a return to health by key players, had been looking to restart its campaign with a big, momentum-injecting win. The story being written at RFK after the first 45" was one of disappointment, however, a reminder that the ball is round and the players we cheer are merely human after all.
Come the second half, with a remarkable turn around United put its stamp on the game, the RFK air was electrified for the first time in seemingly ages, and the fans sung their way happily into the night.
Was the old United swagger and style finally back?
Talon Rating: 4 out of 5 birds
United started strong, with Fred looking better and sharper than he has in many moons, with nice touches and good interactions with Gomez and Emilio. DC was dominating when, around about the 6th minute, Boyzzz found himself free in the box with the ball and pushed it wide. Ouch! United had other chances, but the shooting was not that great and DC's first shot on goal actually came much later in the first half.
And then, after a long clearance from the Rapids keeper, Janicki fumbled and Namoff, under pressure, inexplicably elected to loft the ball toward his goal instead of clearing it to the side. And just like that it was 1-0 Colorado.
After this debacle the Rapids seemed to wake up and United to retreat. Oh, sure, there were a few lovely evolutions, such as a brisk passing sequence upfield from Janicki to Gomez to Emilio, that ended in an offside flag.
But, for the balance of the half United seemed listless, with Janicki, and especially Burch, getting repeatedly schooled in their own end. One shocking and unspeakable event was an awful square pass by Burch, deep in his own end, that nearly was intercepted by a guy wearing a blue shirt.
Halftime. Frisbee exhibition? Really?? Could the atmosphere become any more meh?
As the whistle blew on the start of the second half, Moreno was in and Khumalo out. I nearly had to ask a random hairy drunk man to pinch me at what lay before us: there on the field at the same time were Moreno, Gomez, Fred, Emilio, Olsen, Simms, and Namoff.
Were we watching some sort of throwback game?
And, sure enough, it proved to be just like old times.
Moreno slotted a nice ball to Gomez, who was making a telepathic run, and the Argentinian was brought down in the box. (Note: watching the replay at home later, the amount of contact there was, well, not much. Anywhoo . . .) Moreno buried the PK and the stadium erupted.
Later, in the 56th minute, clever play between Gomez and Emilio to Pontius led to the ball ending up in touch. On the ensuing corner, Namoff made a brilliant diving header to side of the net, and United took the lead.
Turning point of the game and, perhaps, United's year?
But the steak was just beginning to sizzle. The third goal by Emilio was actually manufactured by Gomez, who, by shear force of will, fought his way to endline and managed to tap the ball sideways for the cross, with Fred showing some strength (for once!) with his back to goal and holding off a defender to push the ball to Emilio.
The man of the match could have been Namoff for his overall play in the second half, even putting aside his talismatic goal. However, his sad-sack own goal rules that out. Janicki continued to look like a work in progress. Simms has to stop giving away the ball. Burch, yet again, was the opposite of man of the match. Who would you choose? Gomez? Fred?
As noted above, Fred played the first good game he's had in close to forever. However, he could easily have -- and let's face it -- should have been sent off early in the second half after planting his spikes into the upper thigh of a Colorado player. Jumping in like that and spearing your opponent's quad after he's already passed away the ball could be a straight red, depending on the mood of the referee. And here, Fred was already carrying a yellow card.
When Fred came out, Soehn embraced him warmly on the sideline. The two men lingered together longer than usual, the coach saying something in the Brazilian's ear, rubbing his head, and then sending him to the bench with an emphatic pat on the behind.
It's impossible to say what passed between them, but one could guess. What's important is that, on this night, Fred, like United, was back.
UPDATED:
Goff's player ratings:
Wicks 7; Namoff 6, Janicki 5, Burch 6; Khumalo 4, Simms 6, Olsen 6.5, Gomez 8, Fred 6.5; Pontius 5, Emilio 6. Subs: Moreno 7, Wallace 6, McTavish 6
The 6.5 for Fred is uncharitable, while the rating for Emilio (who played better than he has recently, for sure), perhaps too generous. Goff's 6 for Burch is entirely incomprehensible. No, really. If a 5 is supposed to represent average, solid, quality, then Goff must be grading on a curve tailored to Burch alone.
BDR has critical but true things to say about Janicki and Burch.
DCUMD's take on the match is here.
Overheard at the match:
- "Burch defending Ronaldo will be something I won't be able to watch."
- "Namoff is playing out of his mind."
- "It's almost like watching the team from two years ago when they were good."
Comments