Posted on October 17, 2008

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DC United comes from behind to survive another day

Knowing that a draw was not good enough to keep their fleeting playoff hopes alive, DC United gave their most spirited performance in league play in over two months coming from behind in the second half to defeat the New England Revolution 2-1.

United fell behind on Taylor Twellman’s 99th goal, perhaps the easiest of his sensational career, in the 58th minute. Francis Doe tallied five minutes later to equalize and again in the 80th minute to lift United to their first come-from-behind win since a June 7 win at Chicago by the same score.

“With Francis it’s very easy-he is working very hard,” said United coach Tom Soehn. “When you have conversations with forwards, when they do that kind of work and all the little things right, the goals come along with it.

“He is making it difficult, he is putting pressure on defenders, he’s competing and as long as he is doing that, he is a hard guy to play against.”

After a succession of solid performances over recent weeks, including a stunning 2-2 draw against CD Saprissa on the road in Costa Rica while fielding an inexperience, under-skilled side in their CONCACAF Champions League match last week, United got their first win in MLS league play since beating Colorado 3-0 on August 23rd here at RFK Stadium. It was also just the third win in all competitions since pounding Los Angeles 4-1 on June 29.

“Well, you see the guys fighting for each other and they are working hard for the full 90-minutes,” said United midfielder Santino Quaranta. “I think a couple of weeks ago, (when) we let in that first goal and the life was sucked out of us but we fought through it tonight and we were very successful. We are fighting for our lives here.”

“We have been through some tough stretches this season,” added Soehn. “I’ve learned a lot and understand what some of the young guys can bring to the table; giving them experience and I think it has helped us through some really difficult times and yet it’s matured them in different ways and now a guy like Francis steps up and is the hero on the day…our mentality is a lot healthier.”

United however, has not had the opportunity to field anything that even resembles that team during a long stretch of pedestrian to poor results.

Luciano Emilio made his return to the starting XI after missing four games with a left hamstring strain. He played in tandem with Doe up top to start in favor of Jaime Moreno, who is still hampered by a sore knee. Greg Janicki also made his second MLS start in the center of the back line with Devon McTavish pushing out wide to the right.

Janicki left the game in the 36th minute however with a hamstring strain of his own and was replaced by regular starter Gonzalo Martinez.

Marc Burch found Emilio with a perfectly struck cross from the left flank into New England’s penalty area, but the Brazilian striker could not cleanly chest the ball down near the back post for a clean opportunity in the 5th minute.

Emilio was at it again in the 12th minute, flicking a pass around Michael Parkhurst some 25-yards from goal. The touch was a bit too strong however, allowing the steady defender to recover forcing Emilio to take a hurried, off balanced shot that drifted over the top of the goal frame.

Doe’s clever dribble in the left side of the penalty area, feigning a pass and pulling the ball back and around Gabriel Badilla, left him with a 12-yard bender marked for the far post that Reis got down quickly to knock away with both hands.

Reis’ clearance made it no further than the penalty spot however, but just far enough away for Emilio to get a clean strike on the ball which sailed well high and wide in the 19th minute.

Emilio’s next chance came in the 22nd minute slicing to open space inside of the penalty to drive a thunderous header from a Quaranta corner kick barely wide left.

Louis Crayton needed to be sharp at the other end three minutes later, diving hard and high to his right to deflect away a whipping left footed free kick labeled for the top corner by Mauricio Castro 26-yards out on the left side.

Castro replaced Steve Ralston after the MLS original and all time leader in assists broke his right fibula last week.

Emilio’s best chance however came in the 28th minute, rising over the Revs back line, flicking a header onto the crossbar off a swinging cross from Thabiso Khumalo from the left flank.

Burch followed that up with a left-footed pellet around the wall on a free kick from 30-yards, requiring Reis to make another diving save to this left with both hands at the far post.

Taylor Twellman took his first opportunity at goal just a few minutes into the second half with a well struck shot from 35-yards that Crayton handled well and then followed that up with low strike that tested the Liberian keeper once again

Until he was replaced by Moreno in the 61st minute to bolster the attack, Gonzalo Peralta’s physical play and tight marking left the lethal front man very little space or time on the ball.

United continued their relentless attack with a quick transition spearheaded by McTavish, but a poor decision to pass left to Ivan Guerrero versus to his right with multiple black shirted options stalled the attack in the 58th minute.

However, on the ensuing counter attack seconds later, Kheli Dube slipped a ball through to Castro on the right flank, who immediately played a simple ball across the goal frame past a challenging Crayton to an unmarked Twellman, who easily pushed the ball into the unattended goal to make the score 1-0.

United defenders had completely stopped, appealing for offside, which Castro was not, unlike Twellman at the time of the ball was played.

The lead lasted all of five minutes, however, as Doe took a pass from Moreno down the left channel, cut the ball back around the uncontrolled slide of Chris Albright and buried a right footed shot from 12-yards inside the near post past a helpless Reis to equalize the score.

“We felt we did OK, we just had to get the final shot and we would have been OK,” said New England head man Steve Nicol. “We nearly were two up [in the second half and then we go up the other end and its 1-1 -- a bad defensive play and the second one the same. So, from where I'm standing we contributed to our own downfall.”

“You know, even when they scored it felt like we weren’t going to lose that game, for some reason,” said Quaranta. “You didn't see guys' heads go down -- against Chivas [USA], it felt like once they scored, our heads went down and all the wind got sucked out of us.

“Tonight it just seemed like Jaime brought something to the game and everybody just stepped up a little bit. We knew what we had to do, and that’s a season-changing performance.”

“He is good at holding up the ball, he’s strong and uses his strength very well and he got the job done for us tonight,” added Clyde Simms.

The assist was Moreno’s 10th of the season to go along with his 10 goals, reaching that statistical feat for the fourth time in his career and first time since 2006, which he did alongside teammate and MLS Most Valuable Player Christian Gomez.

Understanding that a draw was a nearly useless result in the drive to the playoffs, the sturdy Liberian muscled through Parkhurst at the top of the penalty to collect a bouncing ball from Quaranta before curling a right-footed shot into the upper right hand to make the score 2-1, sending the United faithful into a tizzy.

“I just need to be in a better position early. He had a hold of my shirt, but that’s part of the game, the ref’s never going to call that. I just need to be stronger and get on the other side of him so he doesn’t have the opportunity,” Parkhurst said.

“That’s my game-speed and strength. That’s my weapon; it’s something that I know so it wasn’t surprising to me today,” said Doe.

Who was the United Man of the Match in the 2-1 victory over New England on Oct. 16?

Match Facts

Scoring Summary:
NE — Taylor Twellman 8 (Mauricio Castro 3, Kheli Dube 4) 58
DC — Francis Doe 1 (Jaime Moreno 10) 63
DC — Francis Doe 2 (Santino Quaranta 4, Louis Crayton 1) 80

Lineups:
New England Revolution — Matt Reis, Chris Albright, Michael Parkhurst, Jay Heaps, Mauricio Castro (Sainey Nyassi 75), Gabriel Badilla (Pat Phelan 85), Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz, Khano Smith, Kheli Dube (Kenny Mansally 75), Taylor Twellman,

Substitutes Not Used: Amaechi Igwe, Brad Knighton, Wells Thompson, Chris Tierney

D.C. United — Louis Crayton, Devon McTavish, Greg Janicki (Gonzalo Martinez 36), Gonzalo Peralta (Jaime Moreno 61), Marc Burch, Thabiso Khumalo (Fred 64), Santino Quaranta, Clyde Simms, Ivan Guerrero, Francis Doe, Luciano Emilio,

Substitutes Not Used: Rod Dyachenko, Craig Thompson, Joe Vide, Zach Wells

Statistical Summary
D.C. United / New England Revolution
Total shots: 20 (Luciano Emilio 6) 13 (Taylor Twellman 9)
Shots on goal: 5 (Francis Doe 4) 7 (Taylor Twellman 4)
Fouls: 15 (Santino Quaranta 3,
Fred 3) 15 (Kheli Dube 4)
Offsides: 5 (Francis Doe 3) 1 (Kheli Dube 1)
Corner kicks: 7 (Marc Burch 4) 8 (Mauricio Castro 6)
Saves: 6 (Louis Crayton 6) 3 (Matt Reis 3)

Misconduct Summary:
DC — Santino Quaranta (caution; Reckless Foul) 28
NE — Jeff Larentowicz (caution; Reckless Tackle) 56
NE — Mauricio Castro (caution; Reckless Foul) 59
NE — Chris Albright (caution; Dissent) 82
NE — Sainey Nyassi (caution; Reckless Foul) 88
DC — Fred (caution; Reckless Foul) 91+

Referee: Tim Weyland
Referee’s Assistants: Adam Wienckowski; Fabio Tovar
4th official: Jeff Gontarek
Time of game: 1:52
Attendance: 16,672
Weather: Partly Cloudy -and- 72 degrees

Tagged with: August 23rd, Coach Tom, Concacaf Champions League, Conversations, DC United, Difficult Times, Five Minutes, Forwards, Inexperience, June 29, Match, Midfielder, New England, New England Revolution, Santino Quaranta, Saprissa, Spirited Performance, Stretches, Taylor Twellman, Young Guys

DC United comes from behind to survive another day

Match Facts

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