Sunday afternoon D.C. United went toe-to-toe with the New England Revolution in a battle for supremacy of the Eastern Conference, and arguably the entire MLS. The match did not disappoint. It was a competitive affair in which each side took turns playing from behind before United dealt the knockout blow and cruised to victory. By most standards, it was a fantastic match.

Flash forward to last night. D.C. United is facing a Real Salt Lake team residing in the basement of the Western Conference; a team that, for all intents and purposes, is on life support. Replace the verve and inspiration of Sunday's match with angst and frustration. Add eight yellow cards, 39 fouls, two missed penalty kicks, and more questionable calls than we could shake a fist at, and you get last night's clusterfuck of a soccer match. When the dust settled, D.C. emerged with the 2-1 victory behind goals by Luciano Emilio and Christian Gomez.

During the first 15 minutes of the match, United slipped into their old habit of playing down to their opponent. RSL took advantage of United's indifference to push forward offensively; two RSL wins and a draw in the two teams' last three meetings provided a boost to the visitors' confidence. Looking particularly dangerous was forward Alecko Eskandarian. The former United striker, fan favorite, and all around colorful character made a couple of jutting runs to the middle of the field before unleashing low, powerful drives that goalkeeper Troy Perkins could only parry out of bounds.

Photos by Kyle Gustafson

RSL was unable to capitalize on three early corner kicks, and United responded with the first goal of the game. Emilio pushed forward down the left side of the penalty box before centering to Ben Olsen. The midfielder shanked his shot, but it fell at the feet of Gomez. Beating his defender with a move toward the endline, Gomez sent a high arching ball to the far post. Emilio's striker instincts shined as he drifted into position unmarked, leaped, and whipped a header past former United GK Nick Rimando.

Several minutes later Jorge Gonzalez handed out the first yellow card of the match when Emilio forced a turnover and was fouled just outside the penalty area. The card was deserved, a contrast to later cautions. The first of these would come in the 28th minute, when Eskandarian was booked for a fairly benign challenge.

Despite scoring, United reverted to their previously sloppy demeanor and subsequently allowed the equalizer. Occasional U.S. international Kyle Beckerman made a strong run from midfield in the 32nd minute. Unmarked from 40 yards out, he pushed another ten yards before Bobby Boswell belatedly rushed out to meet him. Though Boswell reached him 25 yards from goal, his presence served only to screen Troy Perkins, and Beckerman unleashed a shot past him. The goal was particularly vexing to coach Tommy Soehn. "It was disappointing because we addressed this before the game. Kyle's got a shot from the outside and we failed to step in and close that."

Soehn expressed his frustrations during halftime, lamenting a "predictable" attack. Guy-Roland Kpene got the start in place of Jaime Moreno (on call with the Bolivian national team), but performed ineffectively. At the start of the second half Fred came into the game fully rested and replaced Olsen on the right flank. Olsen moved back to holding midfielder, pushing Gros to an attacking role on the left side, while Gomez pushed into the withdrawn forward slot vacated by Kpene.

The move paid off almost immediately. Gros proved to be effective in an attacking position and drew a penalty when Jean-Martial Kipre tripped him as he crossed the corner of the box. With United lacking Moreno's PK expertise, Gomez stepped up to the penalty spot. The hero of the penalty shootout in United's 2004 Eastern Conference finals win over New England sprung to his left and easily corralled Gomez's shot.

Now into the 50th minute, the match started to slowly spiral out of control. First, a dubious off-sides call negated a Gomez goal in the 55th minute. Two minutes later, Devon McTavish was justifiably booked for a hard challenge on Chris Wingert. The booking was offset by an earlier yellow given to Olsen for contesting a 50-50 header; Olsen was elbowed in the face earlier in the match contesting a header and his assailant went unpunished.

United would find net in the 73rd minute. When Marc Burch's free kick hit the RSL wall, the ball drifted to Bobby Boswell. The defender alertly backheeled to Fred, who one-timed a cross to the back post. Again, United found success with a header, as Christian Gomez bounced the ball under the diving Rimando.

United's goal only added to the frenzy. Six fouls were issued in the next five minutes, including one for a penalty. In the 75th minute, Real sent a free kick into the box. As the kick sailed harmlessly wide left, Carey Talley grabbed McTavish and flipped him to the ground. Unfathomably, McTavish was whistled for the penalty.

Eskandarian stepped up with a chance to drive a stake into the heart of his former team, but Perkins was up to the task. Leaping to his left, the goalie blocked Esky's rising shot. Bobby Boswell cleared the ball, but danger was not averted and neither was the spotty officiating. In scrambling after Boswell's clearance, Andy Williams fouled Burch twice, yet was awarded a free kick just outside the box. United cleared this attempt as well, and for the remaining 15 minutes, the match descended to oblivion. Both teams aggressively pursued the game, and with the referee's credibility in jeopardy, each side fouled with abandon and without consequence.

Chaos and sloppy play prevailed; the match had all of the grace and nuance of a rock fight. When the match ended, Eskandarian dropped to the ground, exhausted and frustrated, while United caught their collective breaths and stumbled to the locker room.

After playing four matches in 12 days, United have 10 off until their next match. Soehn was tempered in his assessment of his team.

You want to end in a lot better way, I thought. It was bad, all the way around. Having said that, there's a lot of situations you're in where you don't play well and you don't get the result. So I give our guys credit. They did what it took to win and get our three points.

The road to the MLS Cup has some bumpy spots along the way. United have already proven that they have the firepower and sophistication to vanquish their closest competitors. Yesterday, they proved that they have the resolve to survive the not-so-beautiful game.

Briefly Noted: Former United defender and MLS Cup hero Eddie Pope was honored before the game with a video tribute featuring highlights and the praises of former teammates and coaches. Pope was not in the starting lineup and did not log any minutes of play... Eskandarian and Rimando received warm ovations from the crowd during lineup announcements... Olsen, Gomez, and Fred will serve suspensions during United's next match (against Chicago) due to yellow card accumulation... With the win, United becomes the first MLS team to clinch a spot in the postseason.