On the surface, there wasn’t much separating D.C. United and the Chicago Fire heading into their match at RFK Stadium last night. Both teams had scored and allowed the exact same number of goals — 20 for, 17 against. Both held large margins in the way they score, namely, from the run of play — United had scored 70% of goals in open play, the Fire, 65%. United had not lost at home, while Chicago…

Yesterday afternoon’s contest between D.C. United and the New England Revolution carried several levels of significance. With six games remaining for United and most of MLS, teams are becoming increasingly desperate to capture the three point bounty of each remaining game in the scramble for playoff spots. The Revolution came into RFK Stadium as the toughest foe remaining on United’s schedule. The game constituted the last time United would face a sure-fire playoff team….

D.C. United manager Tom Soehn wants to forget about last Saturday’s debacle at previously winless Real Salt Lake. After an opening spell that might have given Soehn flashbacks, an under-strength United helped him do that with a strong final sixty minutes and a 4-1 win over the Colorado Rapids at RFK Stadium. There were plenty of important moments – newcomers Fred and Luciano Emilio’s fluid passing movies with playmaker Christian Gomez, Jamaican forward Nicholas…

Under some circumstances, a draw is an acceptable result in soccer. Playing in a hostile stadium against a superior opponent would be one of these circumstances. If you head into the second leg of a Cup match with the lead on aggregate, you’d be happy to walk away with a draw. You’d contently take away one point from a match when you are desperate to end a season-long losing streak: baby steps, right? D.C. United…

In a game that could only be described as a battle, D.C. United and CD Guadalajara fought to a 1-1 draw last night at RFK, thanks to a Luciano Emilio goal in the 91st minute. In front of a raucus 26,528 (last year’s largest crowd was 24,150), the majority of which were Chivas supporters, the two teams clawed, pushed, and hacked their way through the inclement conditions (rain, 44 degrees). The game featured various…

Last night’s driving rain was the first of two adversaries D.C. United encountered last night at RFK stadium. The other was a desperate CD Olimpia, eager to quickly erase the 4-1 deficit from last week’s encounter in Tegucigalpa. Though Olimpia coach Nahum Espinoza conceded after the game that United won the series in the first leg, his players didn’t show it. After taking several minutes to adjust to the field conditions, Olimpia began pressuring…

Last night, DC United and Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid played their way to a 1-1 draw. Arguably the most successful soccer club in the world, Real Madrid boasts a roster filled to the brim with world-class stars. But for all the mystique surrounding Madrid and its galácticos, United did not seem star-struck. Playing a spirited, competative, and technically sound brand of soccer, they stood up to Madrid and took home a result. Though the…