Match 34 - DC United x Chicago Fire
October 15, 2006
RFK Stadium
Washington, D.C.- By Joseph Schoenbauer, Wednesday, October 18, 2006
DC United Loses Third Straight To End Regular Season, Prepares For Playoff Series With New York Red Bull
DC United lost for the third consecutive game Sunday evening to conference rival Chicago Fire 2-3 in their last regular season game. Having gone down 2-0 early on, DC rallied through a brilliantly taken goal from Christian Gomez, but were undone when Andy Herron scored to put Chicago back up 3-1 in the second half. Another well-taken goal by League MVP candidate Christian Gomez followed, but it was not enough in the end.
Head coach Peter Nowak was uncharacteristically long winded in his post-game press conference reflecting on tonight’s performance as well as on his team’s chances in the playoffs, “I don’t remember [when] we lost 3 games in a row since I’ve been here. Even considering the last game against New England, we have enough chances to tie the game and to win the game, we just make too many mistakes defensively and that’s why we are where we are…But we’ll find the way, the right way, to fix these things and I’m sure its going to be a completely different team playing in New York next week.”
“We create a lot of chances either the last game (against New England) or even tonight. The soccer gods may be are not on our side right now. If you consider missing the chances like Josh [Gros] did or the last minute chance from Benni [Olsen] you just shake your head and…but as I said the point is still we give up the goals like a U-12 team so we cannot do that because in the playoffs it’s going to cost us the game, it’s going to cost us the series and we all go fishing.”
Nowak continued, remarking more now on DC United’s chances in the playoffs and what it’s going to take for them to get there, “This team deserves to be in MLS Cup final and win the cup. The potentials they have, they just need to believe. We have to stick together and make sure we understand each other.”
“We will have one goal during next week which means advance to the MLS Cup final and win…November 12 is the date and we want to play and I strongly believe that this team deserves to be there…We can create the chances, but we have to stay compact and we have to be very disciplined in defensive play and make sure we‘re not going to make such mistakes.”
Concerning the difference between regular season and postseason matches, “It’s completely different, we know from the history of the playoffs the games are completely different and you cannot predict what will happen. We just want to take care of our side.”
Lastly, he spoke of Alecko Eskandarian, who is returning to fitness following a month out with hamstring tendonitis, “Esky tried in the second half (to shoot from distance), he definitely bring us something special so we have to look how he’s going to feel during the week and make a decision.”
From locker room interviews, it is clear that DC United is focused on the first-round match up with New York and is not looking past them as they search for an unprecedented 5th MLS Cup Championship. The keys, which Peter Nowak, Alecko Eskandarian and Brian Carroll all echoed in their speeches, will be to work as a team defensively and to stay compact, something they have failed to do in their last 2 games in which they conceded 5 goals.
Positives for DC
While they may have not come out on top in their last two games because of defensive breakdowns, they still mustered an exceptional 40 shots on goal, which means they are creating enough opportunities to score games, and ultimately win games. What’s more, Christian Gomez is healthy and on fire, having tallied goals 13 and 14 against Chicago to add to his 11 assists on the season, putting him second in the league for the Golden Boot, behind only Jeff Cunningham of Real Salt Lake. Freddy Adu also contributed 2 assists against Chicago, his second a brilliant over the top through ball for Christian Gomez to run on to and finish strongly to Matt Pickens bottom right corner. Lastly, Jaime Moreno’s also received an assist on Gomez’s first goal, his 10th of the year, making DC United the only team to have two players record double digits in both goals and assists for the year.
It was also very encouraging to see DC United’s strong second-half performance, which not coincidentally, began with Ben Olsen’s introduction to center midfield.
New York’s Strengths
When you think of New York, one name comes to mind. Amado Guevara. Guevara is the captain and clear leader of the New York Red Bulls, leading the team in goals scored (8) and points (26). In New York’s last game of the regular season, a must-win game against Kansas City, Amado Guevara led a comeback by scoring 3 straight goals, 2 from the penalty spot, to give New York a dramatic 3-2 win and 4th place in the Eastern Conference. Another bright spot is the emergence of 16-year old forward Josmer Altidore, who has scored 3 goals, 2 of which were game winners, in just 330 minutes of action down the final stretch of the season. The goal that was not a game winner was scored against DC United in their 4-3 loss.
Looking Towards the Playoffs
Form going into the Playoffs
DC United and New York have nearly identical records dating back to September 3rd. DC United is 2-4-2, scoring 11 goals and conceding 13, while New York is 3-4-1, scoring 10 goals and conceding 12.
DC vs. NY on the Season
DC has not lost to NY this season, tying in DC’s home opener 2-2, before beating them in New York 4-1. In Bruce Arena’s first official game for NY, they tied 0-0 in New York, before DC knocked them out of the US Open Cup 3-1. In their final meeting of the regular season, DC was victorious again 4-3 in a very entertaining game at home.
Outlook for the Two-Leg Series
Despite their current form, DC can go into the series with confidence knowing in their 5 games against NY this year they have won 3, tied 2 and lost none, scoring 13 goals in the process. While Amado Guevara’s determination has gotten NY into the playoffs, DC’s midfield combination of Ben Olsen and Brian Carroll should be able to keep him under wraps long enough for Christian Gomez, Jaime Moreno and Co. to make the difference for DC United.