It wasn’t a pretty night for DC United fans as they had to suffer a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy. Robbie Keane scored two goals and was a constant threat all night against the Black and Red. DC was able to get one back at the end, but it barely consoled the fans of DC as they watched their team outplayed once again.
The trouble began with a questionable starting lineup by coach Ben Olsen who chose to sit both Branko Boskovic and Hamdi Salihi as well as another big off season signing Emiliano Dudar. When the lineups were announced, I tried to find explanations but had no luck. As I sit here, I have no idea what happened this week. I’m convinced that there was something though (slight injuries, fatigue, something?) and maybe this week or next we’ll get a better look at things. Daniel Woolard, who started at outside back last week against KC, wasn’t even dressed for the match. Maybe Olsen is experimenting? Who knows.
On LA’s side, Galaxy coach Bruce Arena took the chance of playing most of his starters from Wednesday’s Champions League match and it paid off. The entire first half was pretty much all Galaxy. They had more possession, more opportunities, and just played better soccer. The only thing the Galaxy couldn’t do was finish their chances. Keane had multiple opportunities that were stopped by the amazing play of backup keeper Joe Willis. Willis was probably the reason the match didn’t get out of hand quicker. LA’s midfield shut down United’s midfield limiting the Black and Red to very few chances in their attacking third. At the end of the first half, it seemed like DC was getting in the groove, but Keane’s goal all but put an end to that.
The second half was more of the same. LA continued their pressure and was rewarded with another Keane goal. The announcers were loving it saying the Galaxy were finally having fun and enjoying themselves (much to the ire of any DC fan listening in). An injury to Dejan Jakovic forced Olsen to bring in Dudar after the half. It has been speculated that Olsen was wanting to bring in Salihi, but Jakovic’s injury changed his plans. Either way, Salihi did not see any action. Boskovic came on in the 61st minute to try to take control of the midfield and help out Dwayne De Rosario but little was done. It was 3-0 late in the match when Nick DeLeon, the first round draft pick, came on as the third sub and didn’t take long to score DC’s first goal of the season. In fact, if you go back and look at Chris Pontius’ first goal in 2009, the two are very similar, and they’re both against LA in the HDC. I thought that was kind of cool.
I said so on Twitter and I’ll say it again: This match was like watching the USA play against any world soccer power (Italy, Brazil, Spain etc). Most of the possession and chances went in favor of the other guys, and the Man of the Match was the goalkeeper. Only instead of Tim Howard, it was Joe Willis. DeLeon’s goal was also a nice touch. Not only did he make a fantastic run to set it up, it was classy and is up for Goal of the Week.
Now while its easy for me to be upset and down on DC United right now, its only been two matches. I’m not worried at all right now about how the season is going. There is frustration on both sides (fans and club) right now, but nothing major is happening…right now. I think a good example is Sporting KC. Last year, KC started off 1-6-4 (W-L-D) in league play and were at the bottom of the Eastern Conference table. However, they ended the season winning the East, going to the conference finals, and finishing with a regular season record of 13-9-12. So basically that shows that anything before July doesn’t matter in the MLS season. DC could start off terrible and still have a shot at the playoffs. To wrap things up here, a tough game can result in bad feelings, but if you step back for a moment, you can realize things are not bad yet. And hey, at least every one’s still healthy right?
(image courtesy of dcunited.com)
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