Match 33 - DC United x New England Revolution
October 7, 2006
RFK Stadium
Washington, D.C.- By Joseph Schoenbauer, Wednesday, October 11, 2006
DC United Continues Poor Streak Heading Into Playoffs With 2-1 Loss to New England Revolution
DC United lost 2-1 Saturday night to a New England Revolution team they could meet in the Eastern Conference finals should both teams advance from their first round matchup.
Christian Gomez put DC United ahead in minute 26 after a great run to the end line by right back Bryan Namoff for his 12th goal of the year. Less than 10 minutes later, New England was level when newly-awarded 2006 US Player of the Year Clint Dempsey took a pass from Andy Dorman 30 yards out, powered through DC’s defense, and slipped the ball past the sliding Troy Perkins. The speed of Dorman on the right wing was a thorn in DC’s side all night, and he was involved again barely a minute into the second half, when he and Jay Heaps combined on a corner kick to provide the assist for Taylor Twellman to nod home his 11th goal of the year. Twellman’s goal would prove to be the game winner.
The game was frustrating for DC United as they peppered Matt Reis’ net with no fewer than 22 shots. DC’s greatest chance to add to Gomez’ goal came in the second half when Jaime Moreno and Gomez combined to set up Rod Dyachenko, who started at forward, but his shot towards an open goal found only the side netting with Reis scrambling back to cut off the angle.
Freddy Adu looked to have been clearly fouled twice in the box with the ref in good positions to see both, yet no penalty was awarded. Adu commented after the game, “I don’t know and I don’t really read much into it but I guess it has to be something really serious before a referee calls a foul for me. From now on I’m going to try my best, one hundred and twenty percent, not to ever, ever, ever go down. If someone fouls me I’m going to keep playing until the referee blows the whistle because I’m not going to get the call if I go down.”
He added, “We’ve lost the last 2 games and it’s not good. We’ve played great soccer but we just haven’t scored and we’ve made mental mistakes that have cost us games. It’s definitely a cause for concern. We [have to] go into the playoffs with some momentum, some confidence, and that means winning that last game against Chicago next week.”
In other games, the Kansas City Wizards defeated Chivas USA 2-1 to move into the 4th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference ahead of the New York Red Bulls, who could only tie the Colorado Rapids. DC United will face one of the two in the first round. Those results set up a tasty final game of the year when New York hosts Kansas City next weekend in a must-win game. New York must win to reach the playoffs, while Kansas City stays 4th with a win or a draw.