DCU Defeats Firpo 4-5 On PKs

Finally, A Result

Soehn ran out his A-team and it did just enough to hold on to win.

United turned in the maybe the best half of its year in the first 45 minutes. Scoring in regulation came on a PK by Firpo that should have been disallowed (following a crazy-ass handball in the box by Burch), and a sublime curling free kick by Gomez.

The second half saw the teams becoming more equal, and in overtime Firpo seemed to be gaining momentum. United did a poor job of finishing chances, and Fred had another bad game.

Penalty kicks are the most bowel wrenching thing in sports, but when Gomez stood at the spot to take his turn, I knew the ball was going in.

Talon rating:  4 out of 5 birds

It was great to see how United was actually playing like a team instead of a fairly talented bunch of guys, keeping their shape and showing for the ball to help each other out. (One could curmudgeonly wonder if the amount of time and space Firpo was conceding to United helped in this regard.)

Here are Goff's player ratings :

Wicks 6; Namoff 6, Jakovic 6, Burch 4; Quaranta 4.5, Wallace 4.5, Olsen 5, Gomez 7, Fred 3.5; Moreno 6, Emilio 5. Subs: Pontius 5, Jacobson 6, Szetela 5.

Except as to Gomez, Goffino is probably too generous as usual. Moreno, Namoff, and Jakovic played well. Pontius and Szetela get kudos too. The rest . . . meh. Fred and Burch: Holy shit they had bad games, although, to be fair, Burch took a great PK.

DCUMD, who apparently does not sleep, has a happy match review up.

Does this herald a triumphant new beginning? No. United was not great, but good enough against a team in preseason form. Now, after the big exhibition game on Sunday (stop lying to yourself, you know you're looking forward to it! It's nothing to be ashamed of, and I won't tell) United will be facing two matches a week going forward.

This is going to get interesting, folks. More to come later . . . maybe.

Comments

[Fullback]

"It was great to see how United was actually playing like a team"

Really? Yes, we controlled a lot of the ball, but we rarely did anything with it, besides managing to contrive to give it away. To my eyes, our play looked slow, disjointed, and decidedly not dangerous.

Why am I the only one who can't seem to enjoy this win? Better be careful, or I'll steal your "curmudgeon" crown ;-).