United Finally Breaks Through, Wins 1-0 Over Dynamo
For the first forty-five minutes at RFK Stadium last night, it felt like there was something missing. Maybe it was the team's shooting boots, maybe it was the initiative. Possibly that little extra oomph which the team usually comes out of the tunnel with. It might have been the intricate touch and innovation in front of goal.
But if Ben Olsen -- who wore the armband for United, bringing back memories of his last great spell of play for the Black-and-Red in 2007 -- is to be believed, it was just United being "put to the test." Well, after the club scrapped out a 1-0 victory over the visiting Houston Dynamo, was it worth it?
"It's good to be tested," Olsen said with a sly grin.
Yes, the first three games of D.C. United's 2009 campaign could certainly be described as "testing" -- especially if the team had not been able to rescue a result from what was, for the first half, an ugly soccer match. In such a matchup of two soccer teams looking to gain some traction, it could go one of two ways -- both teams either go all-out in a desperate attempt to grab three points, or the game turns into a forum where chippyness is king and every inch is hotly contested in a battle of attrition.
32 fouls between the sides, a straight red card, only one goal, and legitimate chances few and far between? Yeah, it's safe to say that this was one of those battles of attrition. Fortunately for United, the second half was a much more cohesive effort, and that's why they were able to come out on top of a Houston team who was devoid of any spark whatsoever.
In such a match of collective nerve, the last thing any team can do is go down a goal early. But that's what almost happened after centerback Dejan Jakovic almost gifted Houston a golden opportunity to score in the third minute -- the Canadian center back's lazy, headed attempt to clear the ball was almost pounced upon for a Dynamo break, but the defender recovered nicely and bailed himself -- and United -- out of trouble. On the offensive, Emilio had a half chance at the 10 minute mark, when Chris Pontius floated in a pretty cross from the right wing -- Emilio, though, couldn't be faulted for not wrapping his boot around it. Pontius again looked dangerous in the 17th, when his ball had slightly too much loft for both Wallace and Emilio at the far post, one of many dangerous offensive maneuvers that the former UC-Santa Barbara star brought to the game. In the 34th, United's best chance came when Chris Pontius hit his header off of Burch's lofted cross, but it went begging.
Coach Tom Soehn had nothing but praise for his rookie forward, saying that even though he's being moved around quite a bit, he is "growing in maturity."
Does the moving around bother Pontius?
"I'm fine with it, I just want to be on the field," he said after the game. "I need to establish myself."
Soehn noted that he wanted his team to focus on "the way [they] started the second half" -- and rightly so: many of United 's first half passes were lazy, and as a result, most of it was played in midfield. Both teams only notched one shot each through 30 minutes. This might be because Houston came out looking to kick the Black-and-Red all over the pitch.
But the second half? A totally different story. Two minutes in, Luciano Emilio took an awesome touch from a long cross by right back Bryan Namoff. A little flick, and it was 1-0. It was a sublime piece of finishing from the Brazilian, whose yeoman's like work up top is cementing his status as one of United's most consistent players.
Namoff then came through on the defensive end, keeping a Houston strike off the line. The returning Louis Crayton took a poor swipe at a corner (one of his few errors), but luckily the Twitter-tastic defender was there to bail him out. Perhaps sensing that the momentum of the match was swinging in his favor, Soehn brought United's super-subs onto the field -- first, Fred in the 57th minute, and Jaime Moreno in the 65th.
But United's big problem this year hasn't been getting the lead, it's been keeping it. That task got no easier after Moreno was sent off on a straight red for a bad tackle on midfielder Brad Davis -- Moreno went in late and, while he was obviously upset (choosing not to comment about his brief stint on the pitch after the game), the ejection was a justifiable one. United then pulled back to a more conventional 4-4-1 formation, bunkering down with defender Greg Janicki brought on in Olsen's place, waiting for the storm to come.
It came. Brad Davis arguably should have equalized for Houston after his left-footed bomb from 25 yards away was barely denied both by the hands of Louis Crayton and the crossbar in the 81st. Stuart Holden then came inches away again for the Dynamo from almost the same spot -- this time, his spin was all that kept Houston from a 1-1 draw. Fringe U.S. international Ricardo Clark then had a crack, but shooting was never his best attribute, and he pushed his attempt well to the right. One or two nervy corners later, they sailed through the choppy waves into port; United had their first win of the season.
The club will hope to build on their victory when they travel to west for a match with Real Salt Lake next Saturday.