Sometimes a little rain is needed to clean things up. After five weeks of poor performances and a steady drop in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference standings D.C. United finally got a bit of respite on Friday night. In the season’s dying moments in a mudpit at Robert F. Kennedy stadium D.C. United seemed to find themselves putting two pat New York City Football Club to give them a critical 2-1 win.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Jordan Harrell
Although the victory ensured that United would make the MLS Cup Playoffs for the second time in as many seasons, it was the end of the clubs five game win-less streak that had United coach Ben Olsen relieved after the match. “We’ve been through a lot. When you go through these stretches, they can take their toll on players and the staff.”
Despite the end result things did not look promising early on. In the early moments of the match NYCFC midfielder Frank Lampard gave his side the advantage finishing off an cross by midfielder Andrea Pirlo. Lampard found space in between United right-back Sean Franklin an center-back Kofi Opare. The goal was Lampard’s third of the season and D.C.’s eleventh goal conceded this season in the first fifteen matches.
“I can’t explain the starts. We will continue to work on them. We’ve tried about everything, short of an exorcism,” said Olsen “We’ve tried a few things and sometimes it gets into your head.”
Jennifer Jordan-Harrell photo credit
Much like in their previous five matches, D.C. continued to play catch-up throughout the first 45 minutes to varying degrees of success. Forward Fabian Espindola provided the best opportunity in the 42nd minute with a high curving free kick that appeared to be heading for NYCFC’s back post. But NYCFC goalkeeper Josh Saunders made the decisive save.
Facing down another difficult loss, Olsen made several small adjustments in the second half that ended up opening up the NYCFC defense. With NYCFC holding United midfielder Perry Kitchen at bay, D.C. opted to use their experience on the outside. Midfielder Nick De Leon repeatedly took on NYCFC defender R.J. Allen in the second half routinely finding space behind the rookie to exploit. In the 62nd minute De Leon peeled off of Allen on a cross taken by United midfielder Chris Pontius and delivered a dangerous header on target. His shot ultimately went wide but proved that D.C. was building momentum.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Jordan-Harrell
With De Leon finding space in the left flank, NYCFC coach Jason Kreis was forced to deploy additional assistance to contain De Leon. That in turn freed up Pontius and Espindola to exploit. Pontius’shot in the 73rd may have been saved by Saunders but Espindola was available to sccop up the rebound to deliver his fifth goal of the season.
After getting the equalizer, United looked for more late. Pontius hit a thirty yard screamer that was only narrowly saved by Saunders. “I thought Chris Pontius on the day was very bright.,” said Olsen. “It was good to see him have that type of juice again. We haven’t seen that in a while, and he was fantastic.”
Photo Credit: Jennifer Jordan-Harrell
United would find their game-winning goal late when forward Alvaro Saborio would tap home a lost past Saunders. For Saborio, who came off of the bench after sustaining an injury in practice, the goal was his first with United and his first appearance off of the bench for the team. ” He’s a nice option to have off the bench, and I’m happy for him that he gets the goal,” said Olsen. “Goal scorers, when they go through droughts, it’s all they want to do. They want to score goals. It’s what they’re paid to do.”
While the victory is nice for United the question is now can they build off of this heading into the playoffs? If they are to regain the form that saw the side gain a huge advantage in the Eastern Conference it appears that the club will need to regain their rhythm. “We were able to get on the half turn and get running at their backs a few times, which put them on their heels,” said United forward Chris Rolfe. “Generally this year, it’s been kind of us on our heels at times and we were able to get off on the front foot tonight, minus the goal. We responded well.”
United will take off two weeks before they host the Chicago Fire (10/18 2pm EST) in their home season finale.
