D.C. United fans had reason for hope heading into Sunday night’s matchup with Los Angeles. Coming off two consecutive losses in a week (including a crushing Champions League loss to Toronto), it was widely assumed that Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena would rest some of his regular starters. Maybe we’d see an L.A. squad with no Landon Donovan or David Beckham. Perhaps D.C. United’s defense wouldn’t have to deal with Robbie Keane.
Wrong. The Galaxy opted to play their full squad, and it was Keane who made DCU pay. His goals in the 45th and 69th minutes powered L.A. to a 3-1 victory over the black and red.
Even more surprising than L.A.’s inclusion of all of their starters was D.C.’s exclusion of several of theirs. Already missing Perry Kitchen and Bill Hamid to national team duty, United started the game with Hamdi Salihi and Branko Boskovic—both designated players—on the bench. Emiliano Dudar, expected by some to be in the starting 11, only saw action after starter Dejan Jakovic went down with an injury.
“Salihi was very much in my plans to come into the game, but [with] the injury to Dejan Jakovic at half, I had to burn a sub,” said DCU head coach Ben Olsen after the match. When a member of the assembled media suggested that not starting Salihi or Boskovic looked “odd on the surface,” Olsen quipped, “I don’t care what it looks like on the surface.”
In a match that could have easily ended with the Galaxy scoring five or six goals, the home side dictated the pace of play from the opening whistle. DCU spent the majority of the first half in its own end, and only had one real scoring opportunity—a Dwayne De Rosario chip from some 45 yards out. While the team’s play in the center of the pitch seemed a bit better than it did last week against Kansas City, D.C. United was clearly outclassed by the defending MLS Cup Champions.
Things didn’t get any better in the second half—D.C. United looked tired, repeatedly surrendering the ball in midfield and making careless mistakes on defense. His team’s lack of effort was not lost on Olsen: “I’m disappointed in the group,” he said. “They are a reflection of me and this organization. At the minimum, the fight has to be there every game and I thought we gave them too much respect early.”
“It’s not going to happen again,” Olsen added. “Because I’m not going to put guys out there that that is going to be a trend with. It’s pretty simple.” Looks like we might see yet another lineup shuffle when United take the field against Vancouver next weekend.
Game Notes: D.C. United’s lone goal was a beautiful, curling strike in the 87th minute from Nick DeLeon, making his MLS debut … The team will lose Andy Najar for the next two matches, as he joins Honduras for Olympic qualifiers … DCU next takes on Vancouver on Saturday evening—the Whitecaps are 2-0 after their first road win in the teams history.
