Match 11- DC United x Columbus Crew
May 31, 2006
RFK Stadium
Washington, DC- By Brian Weeks, Friday, June 2, 2006
It did not take long during Wednesday night’s match against the Columbus Crew at RFK Stadium for Jaime Moreno to become the second player in MLS history to reach the 100 goal plateau. Eight minutes, to be exact. And, fittingly enough, it was Moreno who sent Alecko Eskandarian clear of the Crew defense before the speedy striker was chopped down by newly signed goalkeeper Dan Popik. There was little doubt amongst the United faithful as to who would be the penalty kick taker. Moreno stepped up to coolly put United in front, and the crowd rose in unison to salute United’s all time leading scorer. Moreno and the rest of his teammates celebrated his milestone goal by playing some of their best attacking soccer of the season in demolishing an overmatched Crew team by a score of 5-1 before 11,725 supporters on a sultry evening in Washington. United, although the far superior side in the first half, was made to sweat after the Crew equalized shortly before halftime on a well-worked goal. United was too strong in the second half, as they overwhelmed a shell-shocked Popik and scored four goals in a space of 45 minutes.
United started in Peter Nowak’s preferred 4-4-2 formation. Despite some pre-match uncertainty as to the identity of the starting goalkeeper, Troy Perkins kept his spot. The rest of the lineup remained unchanged from the team which defeated Kansas City 3-1 on Saturday. Bryan Namoff, Bobby Boswell, and Facundo Erpen lined up in front of Perkins ranging from right to left. Clyde Simms continued to deputize for World Cup bound Ben Olsen, who was honored in a halftime ceremony. An on-form Brian Carroll lined up alongside Simms in central midfield, with Christian Gomez pulling the strings behind the two forwards. Freddy Adu started on the right wing and Joshua Gros started on the left wing, with Eskandarian and Moreno up top. The Crew, who drew 1-1 with United in Columbus a week and a half prior to Wednesday’s encounter, made two changes to the starting lineup. Popik was called out of retirement after the Crew lost their top three goalkeepers to injury, and Chris Leitch stepped in for Rusty Pierce in the center of the Crew defense.
The Crew had the earliest chance of the match. Within five minutes of the opening whistle, the effervescent Eddie Gaven was allowed to slip behind the United defense after Erpen misjudged a long ball. Gaven cut back for an onrushing Joseph Ngwenya, who scuffed his shot horribly from around the penalty spot. Ngwenya’s inability to test Perkins came to haunt the Crew as United capitalized on one of its first offensive forays. Moreno both started the play and finished from the penalty spot, as he played a perfectly weighted through ball to an onrushing Eskandarian who beat Popik to the ball and tumbled to the ground. Asked to comment on Moreno after the match, Nowak stated, tongue in cheek, “I hope he won’t score goals only from PK...” Moreno’s goal placed him 3 behind Jason Kreis’ 103 in the all time MLS goal scoring charts. 98 of his 100 goals have come while wearing the Black and Red of United. Moreno accomplished the feat in 227 matches, close to 50 less than it took Kreis to bag 100. United seemed to feed off the energy generated by Moreno’s goal, as it controlled possession for large periods of the first half and attacked from all points of the field. Gros in particular was very involved in both sides of the play, as he found large swathes of open space down the left wing to exploit. Carroll and Simms were also very busy, as they were able to cut off most Crew attacks before they entered United’s third and dictated the pace of the match with their economical distribution. Adu, however, struggled to retain possession in the first half. One of his giveaways led to the first Crew goal. Chilean Sebastian Rozental was given space near the edge of United’s penalty area, and he flighted a perfectly measured cross ball to an onrushing Ngwenya, who volleyed the ball out of the air and past Perkins for his second goal in as many matches against United. The goal in minute 21 deflated a United side that had seemed destined to steamroll the Crew. Nowak said, “The goal for Columbus was pretty discouraging…communication wasn’t there.” United had one more chance to score before halftime, as Gros was taken down right outside the penalty area on the right. Gomez squared to an onrushing Eskandarian, whose blast was deflected wide.
Adu switched to the left side of midfield shortly after the Crew goal in the first half. He was more effective getting forward and was consistently able to beat his marker down the wing. This tactical change also allowed both Adu and Gros to utilize their preferred foot to whip crosses into United’s forwards. In minute 48, Adu beat his man and his cross was deflected for a corner. On the ensuing corner, Gomez’ inswinger was met by Eskandarian, whose header was deflected into the Crew goal by ex-United defender Ezra Hendrickson. After United’s second goal the Crew began to press deeper into United’s half. This allowed United to soak up pressure and hit on the counter. In minute 57, Alecko squared to Moreno who was alone in the penalty area, but he was unable to direct his shot on target. Less than a minute later, United scored its third goal. United retained possession at the edge of the box, with Adu doing well to slide the ball through to Moreno. Moreno faked a shot and cut the ball onto his right foot before firing low through a crowd of defenders. Popik was only able to parry the hard shot, and Gros was the quickest to pounce on the rebound and fire into the unguarded net. Gros rushed towards the mercurial Bolivian to celebrate the goal. Nowak recognized Moreno’s contributions to the club after the match, saying, “Jaime Moreno means a lot to this franchise from the beginning… he is a great example for our young players.” The Crew had their best opportunity to claw their way back into the match with a flurry of chances in minute 65. Halftime substitute Ned Grabavoy’s shot was cleared off the line by Namoff. The rebound fell to Jacob Thomas, whose blast was parried by Perkins, and then biked over the bar by ex-Maryland Terrapin Jason Garey. The Crew seemed to wilt in the humid conditions, and United struck twice in the final twenty minutes to put the match out of reach. In minute 71, Gomez played a wonderful slide-rule through ball to Eskandarian from deep in his own half, and Alecko finished to the near post past an onrushing Popik. In minute 78, Argentine Lucio Filomeno scored his first goal in United colors by slotting a right-footed shot past Popik from eight yards out after a failed clearance attempt by Ngwenya. Adu was involved in the play once again, as he both won and struck the corner kick which led to the goal. The Crew was short of ideas going forward in the second half, as their direct style of play failed to threaten United’s defense and allowed United to attack on the counter.
United returns to action on Saturday at RFK, as they renew their rivalry with the defending Eastern Conference champion New England Revolution. The Revolution currently sits in third place in the East, ten points behind United with two matches in hand. They will look to improve on what has been an uncharacteristically slow start. United now finds itself unbeaten in its last four matches, and a win Saturday could send them well on their way to the Eastern Conference title. Nowak, however, spoke in cautious tones after Wednesday’s match. He said, “You can never feel comfortable in the end of May because things can change very fast.”