The New England Revolution left nearly all of their starters at home, fielding basically a side of reserve players and back-ups for their Lamar Hunt U.S. Open qualifier against DC United. Regardless, they left the Maryland SoccerPlex with a compelling 3-2 victory behind two goals from Kheli Dube after withstanding a frantic late charge from the home side.

A late United fury was highlighted by a brilliant dribbling sequence around five defenders and into the penalty area by Najar, who fell to the turf in hopes of drawing the penalty which was emphatically denied by referee Jose Carlos Rivero.

“The energy and the fight toward the end was great and exciting but the good teams don’t have to do that. The good teams put all that energy and passion in the beginning of the game so they don’t end up fighting to get a result,” said United Coach Ben Olsen.

The players may have been different but Steve Nicol’s message and structure were exactly the same for New England; stay structured, be physical, wait for United to make enough mistakes and capitalize on those mistakes. And as usual it worked.

“I think we certainly showed more than they did in the first 50 to 60 minutes. It wasn’t great, I don’t think either team was great but we certainly had the ball, we just didn’t simplify things and move the ball side-to-side and just find the open man,” Olsen continued.

“We were just going for killer balls, we struggled a little bit to hold the ball up but again, it is a new group and I thought we were lacking a little bit of energy, a little bit of concentration, that killer instinct in that first 50 to 60 and then we get that second goal and we woke up – and that part is unacceptable.

“Again, the good teams don’t need to wake up, they wake up at the start of the whistle and they are ready to go”, he concluded.

The Revolution got only four shots on goal and legitimately only had six significant forays into United’s end of the park while the game was still in the balance.

United garnered most of the possession throughout the match but whether it was poor touches or the final ball, it was generally disjointed. Branko Boskovic, the best player by far on the park for either side, was their only influential player, getting himself into good spots to collect the ball and distribute but in the end he didn’t get much help.

Boskovic was not on the field for United’s frantic surge however after injuring his left knee on a hard challenge. The preliminary report is a knee contusion and he will have an MRI today.

“That’s what happens when you get whacked over and over. We’re all human, you get that many licks, they start to add up,” said Olsen about the standard New England tactics, who totaled eighteen fouls to United’s seven.

“Boskovic was very good, very sharp, dictated the game…He has been a great pro for us and done everything we have asked. These aren’t always easy games to play in when you are a European international but he comes and plays hard.”

In the end, United’s bad judgment and poor defending were their undoing.

Completely against the run of play, Dube converted a cross from Kenny Mansally from the right flank to give New England the lead in the 34th minute and extended the lead with a barely contested shot that beat Pat Onstad from a step inside the 18-yard box just after halftime.

Alan Koger was left even more unmarked after collecting a spinning ball that United let inexplicably bounce just outside the penalty area, burying a shot to the near post to stretch the lead to 3-0 in the 69th minute.

United were careless either with the ball or in their decision making on all three Revolution goals. On Dube’s first goal, Ousmane Dabo won a sloppy ball near the center circle and quickly transitioned into the area behind United’s midfield and back line, before playing the original ball wide right to Mansally.

“I think in the second half we played very good – we scored two goals and found our game. A lot of games we have problems in defense, they scored so easy against us, we must be stronger in defense,” said Boskovic.

A simple ball by Koger, a second half substitute, off the right left Dube alone in space and he wisely took the shot before the nearest United defender could close him down for his second goal.

To their credit, United didn’t go away quietly as Boskovic had two great chances in a 7-minute span rejected by the goalkeeper and his sidekick.

After Otto Loewy was shown a well deserved yellow card for a reckless challenge on Blake Brettschneider just outside the 18-yard box in the 51st minute, Boskovic curled the free kick labeled for the top right corner but Bobby Shuttleworth extended well to his left to parry it away. He followed that up 7-minutes later with another free kick that rattled the post.

After collecting a simple lay off from Charlie Davies, who had come on in the 68th minute, Boskovic danced around the penalty area to get the ball onto his favored left foot before banging one home to cut into the Revolution lead.

Boskovic followed that up with a 30-yard thrasher from the left side in the 82nd minute after collecting a fairly innocuous pass from Andy Najar, taking one dribble and beating Shuttleworth inside the near post.

United will need to put this behind them quickly as they return to league play with a match at Houston on Friday night.

SCORING SUMMARY

NE — Dube 34′ (Mansally)
NE — Dube 47′ (Koger)
NE — Koger 69′

DC — Boskovic 73′ (Davies)
DC — Boskovic 83′ (Najar)

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

DC — Boskovic, caution 16′
NE — Loewy, caution 50′
NE — Dube, caution 80′
NE — Cochrane, caution 85′
NE — Koger, caution 86′
DC — Morsink, caution 88′

LINEUPS

D.C. UNITED — Pat Onstad; Brandon Barklage, Rodrigo Brasesco (Dax McCarty 79′), Ethan White, Daniel Woolard; Andy Najar, Branko Boskovic, Kurt Morsink, Santino Quaranta (C); Joseph Ngwenya (Charlie Davies 68′), Blake Brettschneider (Chris Pontius 64′)

Unused substitutes: Bill Hamid, Stephen King, Conor Shanosky, Perry Kitchen

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION — Bobby Shuttleworth; Darrius Barnes, Ryan Cochrane, Otto Loewy (Michael Augustine 91′), Chris Tierney; Sainey Nyassi, Ousmane Dabo (Diego Fagundez 76′), Stephen McCarthy, Ryan Kinne; Kheli Dube, Kenny Mansally (Alan Koger 46′)

Unused substitutes: Tim Murray, Zack Schilawski

Referee: Juan Carlos Rivero
Assistants: Mark Gorak, Ian O’Neil
4th official: Michael Donovan

Ben Olsen put it succinctly, “I was proud that they didn’t quit at 2-0, at 3-0, even at 4-0, the guys worked their tails off in the second half. This is a process, and right now [New York] are a better team than we are. Are they 4-0 better than us? I don’t think so, but on the night I suppose they were.”

The rebuilding of DC United is indeed a process. Olsen will review the game tapes over the Easter weekend and decide what needs to be done. By the time that DC visits the Red Bulls in New Jersey on 9 July, the teams may well be close to evenly matched.

Two intertwined factors will influence my prediction. The Red Bulls’ greater wisdom comes from age and United’s errors spring from youth. The learning curve will favor the young. United also has a deep midfield which should leave them fresher at the hotter time of year.

Olsen will need to address at least three issues. The most obvious is the most difficult to achieve, improving the quality of wide defensive play.

While Marc Burch is a nice hard working guy, he is a convert from further up the field. He has actually improved to a reasonable journeyman level against many MLS teams, but suffers when confronted by the better attacking wings in the league.

On the other flank, Chris Korb has performed better than one might expect from a rookie, but still lacks the vision to contain a disciplined attack like that of the Red Bulls. His failure to follow the crafty Thierry Henry inside led to the goal that set the game’s terms.

The return of Jed Zayner from a hamstring strain will strengthen the right side while Korb continues to adapt to the speed of MLS play. Zayner may also spell Burch for a few matches to keep him fresh. If Uruguayan Rodrigo Brasesco returns to form, he might also contribute a more mature vision.

The second issue is fundamental. For the first twenty minutes of the game, both teams played a full width game. Then DC United’s midfield lost shape and drifted inside. Chris Pontius explained, “When you’re a player on the outside and you’re not getting the ball, I was just trying to find the ball. I wasn’t being effective on the outside.”

That approach reflects precisely what has been wrong with United’s shape and what it had been so nicely improving on beginning late last season. Finding his team behind a goal and then another one, the still young Pontius sought to take the game on his shoulders and bring it to New York.

Ironically, his movement inside was exactly what the Red Bulls would want when in the lead. They happily allowed the game to compress from the side, cutting down passing channels and offering much less room for attack by United.

What Pontius did not realize was that players must find or create space, then let the ball find them. When the Red Bulls attacked successfully, it was notably down the wings. They could take the initiative to widen play when they chose, knowing that DC was unlikely to maintain their own width.

The final issue is how to create sufficient central attacking pressure to allow the wings to feel that they don’t need to move to the middle to make good things happen. It is clear that Dax McCarty, for all of his strengths, is not a creative player. Branko Boskovic is, and it showed when he came in for the second half.

The case for a double holding midfield derives from the youth of DC’s central defenders. As Perry Kitchen and Ethan White continue to adjust to professional play, Olsen may be able to risk starting Boskovic while using either McCarty or Simms to play a defensive mid role. If a lead needs protecting later in a game, the fallback could be to pull Boskovic for a more defensive arrangement.

The season, the coach, and the players are young. The talent is mostly there. Hans Backe, the Red Bulls’ coach, has his experienced players using space well. Under Olsen, DC United’s next step in the rebuilding process will feature better positional discipline.

The other two issues are more difficult. Talent costs money and the defense may have to struggle and grow from within. The degree of emphasis on central creativity may have to depend on opponents’ strengths. While the days when United would set the tone for most games will not return until Olsen’s “process” is fulfilled, he has DC United moving in the right direction.

Scoring Summary:

NY — Thierry Henry 2 (Jan Gunnar Solli 2, Dane Richards 2) 12

NY — Thierry Henry 3 (Jan Gunnar Solli 3, Dane Richards 3) 38

NY — Joel Lindpere 1 (Thierry Henry 2, Rafael Marquez 1) 76

NY — Juan Agudelo 2 (Jan Gunnar Solli 4, Mehdi Ballouchy 1) 92+

Lineups:

New York Red Bulls — Bouna Coundoul, Jan Gunnar Solli, Tim Ream, Rafael Marquez, Roy Miller, Dane Richards (Mehdi Ballouchy 67), Teemu Tainio, Dwayne De Rosario, Joel Lindpere, Luke Rodgers (Juan Agudelo 75), Thierry Henry (Carl Robinson 81).

Substitutes Not Used: Matt Kassel, Stephen Keel, John Rooney, Greg Sutton.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Chris Korb (Santino Quaranta 70), Perry Kitchen, Dejan Jakovic, Marc Burch, Fred, Dax McCarty (Branko Boskovic 46), Clyde Simms, Chris Pontius, Josh Wolff, Charlie Davies (Joseph Ngwenya 60).

Substitutes Not Used: Brandon Barklage, Andy Najar, Ethan White, Pat Onstad.

Referee: Jorge Gonzalez
Referee’s Assistants: Greg Barkey; Matthew Kreitzer
4th Official: Andrew Chapin
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 59 degrees
Attendance: 18,052

Oftentimes a coach will watch the film of the previous game and get a different perspective from what they saw on the sidelines. After watching his team’s 1-1 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy again, DC United coach Ben Olsen’s opinion did not change and it didn’t make him any happier.

“After watching the game again sometimes you get a different perspective. It was about what I thought; pretty good effort, happy we came back in dramatic fashion to get a point but still not good enough,” said Olsen. “We have to be better in our decision making when to go and try and hit the killer ball or when to just keep the ball and try and get a rhythm.”

United (1-2-1, 4 points) travels to BMO Field this Saturday to take on a Toronto FC team that is also trying to find their way.

After the Galaxy match, Olsen said they need to be a “better soccer team” to win games like these, in other words, they have to move the ball more efficiently, move the ball simply but with a purpose and delineate situations quickly and in a smarter manner.

United have garnered decent possession but gave up a goal on a set piece in that Galaxy match and have struggled to defend them efficiently so far this season. To compound the problem, the goal for Los Angeles was scored by one of the smallest players on the field, Mike Magee, who buried a nearly uncontested header from inside the 6-yard box.

“The set piece still drives me nuts,” said an exasperated Olsen. “That has been too many so far where they are putting us in a bad situation.”

After giving up that disappointing goal to Magee, United were savvy enough to recognize their situation but not good enough to consistently break the Galaxy down.

“Most of it just has to do with just having some patience,” said forward Josh Wolff after last Saturday’s loss. “They moved well as a group and knew what they needed to do and that’s where we need to take care of the ball and make a few extra passes rather than try and stick one in and go for the goal.”

“At that point we understand what they are going to do-they are gonna sit back a little more and take their chances on the counters thus we should have more of the ball and at that point we don’t do well enough with the ball and creating the advantages around the field and that comes from making soccer plays; moving it and getting the advantages,” Wolff said. “We were just a little stagnant, a little slow at interpreting plays and it wasn’t good enough going forward.”

But overall, Olsen is trying to put players into position to create an identity for themselves and this team. Typically it takes defined roles and consistent starting line ups to achieve the consistency he is seeking but that has not materialized. He doesn’t seem too fazed by that however.

“I don’t know if you necessarily need the same 11 out there every weekend. To me, it’s a consistent philosophy or a consistent way we want to play. You can plug guys in any week and still have similar results,” said Olsen.

“Everybody adds a little bit different of a thing, but I’m not so concerned with having that set 11. I want to develop a team that, if we have two guys out, pop those guys in and we’re okay. If they do well and they find a rhythm, we stay with that. Certain areas it would be nice to get a partnership. Certainly up top. We’ve got to find two that really start to gel a little bit. We haven’t had that luxury with injuries.”

After working in tandem with Wolff during Tuesday’s training session, it looks like forward Charlie Davies may get his first start up top but Olsen wouldn’t tip his hand. Davies would have started at Colorado but he injured his groin and trained sporadically.

If Davies is fit and healthy, he should bring an element of speed to stretch defenses that is, if someone can get him free in space at the right time.

Also, with Santino Quaranta’s ejection last weekend, his consecutive start streak will come to an end. This may be the moment to reinsert Andy Najar on the flank or perhaps Branko Boskovic or even Fred, to infuse much needed creativity into the attack and turn possession into substantive chances.

“We looked at film today and we had some good dialogue,” said Olsen after Tuesday’s training session. “This is a process and each week we are learning more and more about ourselves. I am still very happy with this bunch-the character of the group, the attitude has been great, we just have to keep moving forward and fix some of things that haven’t been good enough.”

Charlie Davies scored another second half penalty kick after a debatable decision to award the kick in the first place, to bring DC United to level terms with the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-1 before an energetic crow of 26,622 at RFK Stadium.

Mike Magee nodded home a David Beckham corner kick in the 12th minute and that looked to be the only goal of the match until Davies equalized with his third penalty kick and fourth overall goal of the season in the 89th minute.

After some quick and crafty dribbling got Davies past Omar Gonzalez in the penalty area, the big defender stuck his left arm out and made slight contact with Davies; slight contact.

Davies fell to the turf and referee Abiodun Okulaja took the bait and pointed immediately to the spot, causing him to be bum-rushed by at least three Galaxy players including David Beckham and goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.

The young star stepped up and took his own kick, beating Ricketts with a cheeky chip down the middle.

“My job is to come in and change the game – to bring energy and use my skills to get a goal, whether scoring or creating (a goal),” said Davies, who leads the league in goals scored despite not starting a game.

“I saw an opportunity to get the ball and go against the defense. I saw Omar Gonzalez and I was one-on-one with him, and I thought this is my bread and butter, I have to go at him. I did a step over and was able to get by him, but he put his hands on me and I was able to get a penalty.”

At the time of the equalizer, United were a man down after Santino Quaranta was ejected for his second yellow card for two reckless challenges in the 85th minute. The Galaxy’s Jovan Kirovsky was also shown a red card at full time for arguing with Okulaja.

Los Angeles played without star Landon Donovan who stayed at home after not training for most of the week with a knee injury. Though hardly a fair exchange, United were without Perry Kitchen who came down with flu-like symptoms earlier in the day after recently returning from the U-20 World Cup Qualifying in Guatemala.

Despite the seemingly favorable result, United coach Ben Olsen was less than happy with the overall quality of his team’s performance. United were ineffective in moving the ball into dangerous areas as the Galaxy sat in and looked for opportunities to counter after taking the lead.

“I’m happy we battled back and found a way to get a tie, but overall it’s not good enough and that starts with me and I think we may be fortunate tonight and I will take the blame for that,” said Olsen. “Overall I thought we weren’t as sharp as we needed to be tonight, I thought the energy was there but we just weren’t a good enough soccer team. We need to become a better passing team.”

United’s inexperience showed repeatedly. Not only did they let the diminutive Magee score basically an uncontested goal off a set piece, they let two long balls bounce cleanly in front of their own goal, including a long throw that bounced nearly in the middle of the 6-yard box in the 26th minute.

“That is unacceptable at any level whether you are a young team, old team. We’ve got enough guys out there that are not young that we’ve got to take more accountability on these plays,” added United forward Josh Wolff.

“It doesn’t matter. We have a handful of guys that don’t have the years that others do, but they have years, they’ve got experience. You can only use the young card so long. We’ve got to grow and mature as a group and we can look at the video so much but we’ve got to start making the plays on Saturdays when it counts.”

Los Angeles pressured United near the center stripe, forcing numerous back passes to Hamid or a defender which led to 50/50 balls coming back the other way that the Galaxy repeatedly won.

“We didn’t give up a lot but on the flip side we didn’t create any clear cut chances in the final third,” Wolff said. “Most of it just has to do with just having some patience.

“We obviously gave up a goal in a disappointing fashion-on a set piece. It is something we have harped on the last two weeks and the smallest guy on the field gets free inside the six (yard box) and nods one in so it’s not the way we want to start the game.”

“At that point we understand what they are going to do-they are gonna sit back a little more and take their chances on the counters thus we should have more of the ball and at that point we don’t do well enough with the ball and creating the advantages around the field and that comes from making soccer plays; moving it and getting the advantages,” Wolff continued.

“We were just a little stagnant, a little slow at interpreting plays and it wasn’t good enough going forward and we got caught a couple of times in the back as well,”

As the intensity of play picked after the first quarter hour, so did the physicality.

The Galaxy’s Todd Dunivant earned himself a yellow card sliding well late into a challenge on a Dax McCarty ball played wide to the right, hammering Chris Korb in the process with a major collision that left both players weary in the 29th minute.

Quaranta took down Juninho with a hard, and late, shoulder challenge earning his first yellow card in the 39th minute. Apparently still a little charged up 2-minutes later, Quaranta exchanged some heated words with Beckham and had to be restrained after the superstar clipped Wolff from behind with a scissor-like tackle earning a caution as well. Quaranta’s second yellow came after a reckless stab at a loose ball caught Gonzalez squarely on the top of his foot.

On the ensuing McCarty free kick, Dejan Jakovic snuck into the back post and found a fortunate deflection but his left footed shot on a bouncing ball missed wide.

After Hamid slid out to deflect away a Galaxy cross from the right flank, the deflection found a wide open Magee but his shot toward the open goal was cleared off the goal line at the near post by an alert Ethan White in the 35th minute.

Magee nearly had the game winning assist in stoppage time, but his low ball across the face of the goal from the left side of the penalty area was just out of the reach of a sliding Sean Franklin near the back post.

D.C. UNITED: Hamid; Korb (Najar 72′), Jakovic, White, Burch; Quaranta, Simms, McCarty (Boskovic 80′), Pontius; Wolff, Brettschneider (Davies 53′)

Unused substitutes: Ngwenya, Fred, Woolard, Onstad

LA GALAXY: Ricketts; Dunivant, Leonardo, Gonzalez, DeLaGarza; Magee, Beckham (Kirovski 80′), Juninho, Franklin; Lopez (Cardozo 75′), Angel (Barrett 89′)

Unused substitutes: Saunders, Hejduk, Stephens, Jordan

SCORING SUMMARY
LA Galaxy – Mike Magee 12′ (Beckham)
D.C. United – Charlie Davies 90′ (PK) | Video

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
Todd Dunivant – caution 29′
Santino Quaranta – caution 39′
David Beckham – caution 41′
Santino Quaranta – second caution/ejection 84′

Referee: Abiodun Okulaja
Assistants: Chris Strickland, Adam Garner
4th official: John McCloskey

After a draw against Chivas USA at home, TFC went on the road to face the San Jose Earthquakes who have yet to win at home this season.

The starting line up saw no changes from last week. 
Keeper: Stefan Frei.
Defenders: Ty Harden, Nana Attakora, Adrian Cann,  Danleigh Borman.
Midfielders: Jacob Peterson, Tony Tchani, Alen Stevanovic.
Forwards: Javier Martina, Maicon Santos, Alan Gordon.

TFC started the game defensively awkward allowing several dangerous shots by San Jose, after finding their rhythm they took the lead in the 27th minute through a goal from Gordon.  Tony Tchani, Danleigh Borman and Alen Stevanovic looked much more comfortable with the team after having several training sessions under their belts.  Stevanovic demonstrated great skill and looks like a great addition to the team moving forward.  Martina on the other hand did not have a great first half and was close to invisible. San Jose was able to find the equalizer through Dawkins after a good run on the left side in the 38th minute. The first half ended with San Jose taking 12 shots and Toronto taking 3, the Earthquakes also dominated 61 percent of the possession.

The second half continued to be entertaining, where Toronto was much more organized and created more opportunities. Martina came out from the shadows and contributed more – feeding several balls into the box. It is important to note that Nana Attakora was subbed off at half time as it was evident that his play has not been what TFC fans have been used to, this is his second time in two games that he has been subbed off at half time. TFC suffered a blow when Stevanovic was down injured and had to be substituted, he was becoming and integral part of the game on the left side with Borman.

There is still more to do for TFC but this performance would be considered a good one moving forward. The club will now head home for a 3 game home stint before starting their Nutrilite Canadian  Championship quest at Edmonton. Toronto will face the LA Galaxy on Wednesday at BMO Field.

Ratings for players from 1 (low) to 10 (high), ranked by position:

Toronto FC
Stefan Frei: 7.5
Did well throughout the game making some great stops that kept his team in the game. He could not have done much about the goal!

Ty Harden: 7
Did well at right back in the first half and slotted well in the middle in the second half. Becoming more comfortable and confident on the ball in each game.

Nana Attakora: 6
Still does not seem himself since returning from injury last week. His second time being subbed off  at the half in two games this time it was for De Guzman. He was not into the game which resulted in another disappointing showing. He also was shown a yellow for his troubles.

Adrian Cann: 7.5
A great performance by Cann, took over most of the defensive duties in the second half and was seen almost everywhere.

Danleigh Borman: 7
Seemed more comfortable and did well to contribute to the team offensively and defensively. Connected well with Stevanovic on the left side.

Jacob Peterson: 7
Did well overall and did well to slot back into defense in the second half.

Tony Tchani: 7
Did well throughout the game, got himself a yellow for his troubles.

Alen Stevanovic: 7.5
A great game for Alen, did well working with Borman on the left side where they created several opportunities. His work rate resulted to his contribution on TFC’s goal. Subbed off in the second half for Zavarise after getting injured.

Javier Martina: 6
Not his best game for TFC, was invisible for the most part and became more involved in the second half.

Maicon Santos: 6
TFC’s new captain did not contribute much and was subbed off early in the second half for Plata.

Alan Gordon: 7.5
Another decent outing, scored the goal for TFC and it certainly will not be his last. He is being praised and getting compared to the big number 9 – Danny Dichio.

Subs Used:
Julian  De Guzman: 6.5
Came on for Attakora and did well to orchestrate the middle of the park. If he continues on in this manner, his stay with TFC will be extended. He also got himself a yellow card for his efforts this evening, which is a habit that needs to change.

Gianluca Zavarise: 6
Came on for the injured Stevanovic, did well with the time given.

Joao Plata: 6.5
Came on for the under-performing Maicon and had several good runs but did not make the correct decisions to impact the game.

A lifeless first quarter hour between DC United and the Philadelphia Union in their U.S. Open Cup play-in game gave way to a riveting affair, reaching a crescendo with two goals in extra time and United’s converting on all of their penalty kicks to defeat the Union 3-2 at the Maryland SoccerPlex.

Branko Boskovic scored the game winner on United’s fourth penalty kick after Jack McInerney missed and Bill Hamid made a foot save on Roger Torres on the Union’s previous two kicks.

The Union, who started the match with nine regular starters on the field, played the final 3-minutes of regulation and through both of the overtime periods shorthanded after Carlos Valdes received his second yellow card and was ejected in the 87th minute. The second card was for dissent. Valdez had received his first caution for a reckless tackle in the 39th minute.

Union head coach Peter Nowak was also ejected just moments after his team drew even in the extra period for repetitive arguing with referee Andrew Chapin.

With these ejections and United’s squandering that lead in overtime with the manpower advantage left head coach Ben Olsen a bit salty despite the win.

“I am obviously glad we won but we gotta win that game outright,” said Olsen. “We gotta be a little bit savvier in how we deal with games and manage games. Up a man, we get that second goal and it shouldn’t be an issue anymore. We got to make sure we know that every play is important.”

“We just got to move the ball,” Olsen continued. “They are gambling so we got to move the ball as quick as possible. First, we need to finish off the game. We have one or two chances where we can bury the game and it’s over; we got to take care of that part.

“But we also have to be a little smarter. Set-pieces are the one area where they are gonna get at us so make sure you are doing your part and getting your man and making sure the commitment is there on the set-pieces. It wasn’t good there.”

After the two teams exchanged first half goals, United defender Daniel Woolard knocked in a rebound off a Chris Pontius shot to give United the lead in the 111th minute only to see former United standout Brian Carroll equalize in the 118th minute, on a shot that Woolard also got a piece of on its way past a helpless Hamid and into net.

“I was at the back post and was trying to head the ball across the front of the goal and it hit Pontius in the back and he turned and hit it and then it hit somebody else and it fell in front of me and I hit it hard near post and I was lucky it went in,” said Wollard.

The unfortunate bounce off Woolard for the Union’s equalizing goal conjured up an unpleasant U.S. Open Cup experience at this very stadium for the 26-year old from his days with the Chicago Fire.

“It brought back flashbacks,” said Woolard, who spent his first three professional seasons with the Fire. “I scored a goal in the first half- I am two-for-two playing here in scoring goals-then DC came back, scored and we lost in overtime so it kind of brought back memories of that.”

Hamid saved the first Union attempt during the sequence and got a good piece of Carroll’s shot as well but it had just enough impetus to knick Woolard on its way into the net for the tying goal.

After the uninspiring start by both clubs, it was the cagey veteran Carlos Ruiz who gave Philadelphia the lead on their first real chance, popping in a long Sheanon Williams throw-in from the right side in the 18th minute.

Josh Wolff was the opportunistic beneficiary of a deflection off the head of Joseph Ngwenya during a melee in front of the Philadelphia goal to equalize just moments before the halftime whistle. Ethan White got on to the original cross from the right flank but his attempt was blocked only as far as the right corner of the 6-yard box where Ngwenya got enough of the ball to guide it to the other side toward Wolff who nodded it home inside the right post.

United outshot the Union by a wide margin (23-5) and controlled possession throughout most of the match even prior to the Valdes ejection.

“When it’s 1-1 and you are up a guy, obviously you want to utilize that guy,” said Wolff about his team being up a man and nearly squandering the win. “They sat in at that point, they knew what they were trying to do which was get it to PK’s. We went up 2-1 and I think we had a chance to make it 3-1 and that is regulation or overtime, when those chances come, you got to be ready to kill the game off and we didn’t.”

Jakovic came on for a pedestrian Rodrigo Brasesco in central defense at the start of the second half as did Blake Brettschneider for Wolff up front.

Brettschneider made a case for himself nicely, sneaking a low cross through from the left side of the penalty that seemed to fool Boskovic who never got off a shot. Boskovic did get off a shot in the 78th minute however forcing Mondragon to make a solid save.

United pelted the Union penalty area with numerous crosses resulting in some tantalizing misses and they nearly ended it in stoppage time but Stephen King’s cross was cleared off the goal line by Michael Farfan, who was playing right back at the time and subsequently slid into central defense in overtime versus his customary flank midfield position.

D.C. UNITED: Hamid; Barklage, White, Brasesco (Jakovic 41′), Woolard; Najar, King, Fred (Pontius 89′), Boskovic; Wolff (C), Ngwenya

Unused substitutes: Brettschneider, Morsink, Simms, Shanoksy, Willis

PHILADELPHIA UNION: Mondragon (C), Harvey, Valdes, Califf, Williams (Mwanga 73′), Nakazawa, Carroll, M. Farfan, Daniel (Roger Torres 66′), Le Toux, Ruiz (McInerney 80′)

Unused substitutes: Holder, Richter, Pfeffer, Agorsor

SCORING SUMMARY
Philadelphia Union – Carlos Ruiz 18′ (Williams)
D.C. United – Josh Wolff 45′ (Ngwenya) | Video
D.C. United – Daniel Woolard 111′
Philadelphia Union – Brian Carroll 118′

Penalty Kicks:
Philadelphia Union – Le Toux – made
D.C. United – Pontius – made
Philadelphia Union – McInerney – miss
D.C. United – Barklage – made
Philadelphia Union – Torres – saved
D.C. United – Najar – made
Philadelphia Union – Nakazawa – made
D.C. Uniited – Boskovic – made

D.C. United – 4, Philadelphia Union 2

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
Fred – caution 25′
Carlos Valdes – caution 39′
Dejan Jakovic – caution 70′
Carlos Ruiz – caution 73′
Carlos Valdes – second caution/ejection 86′
Piotr Nowak – ejection 118′

Referee: Andrew Chapin
Assistants: Eric Weisbord, Kevin Klinger
4th official: Michael Donovan

Alan Gordon - Photo Credit to Catherine Solmes

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After winning at home against Portland Timbers, TFC was expected to continue on a positive note against Chivas USA. All was changed when the news of Dwayne De Rosario being traded to the New York Red Bulls surfaced. On Friday afternoon the DeRo trade was confirmed, where TFC acquired Danleigh Borman, Tony Tchani and a first round draft pick in 2012 in return for Dwayne De Rosario. On the other hand, Javier Martina was voted MLS Goal of the Week earlier in the week for his second goal in the Portland game and Decoy Williams was signed.

TFC and Chivas Draw!
The starting line up saw several changes after trades and signings this week. 
Keeper: Stefan Frei.
Defenders: Ty Harden, Nana Attakora, Adrian Cann,  Danleigh Borman.
Midfielders: Jacob Peterson, Tony Tchani, Alen Stevanovic.
Forwards: Javier Martina, Maicon Santos, Alan Gordon.

TFC started the game on a rough note suffering an early goal deficit. After finding their rhythm they were able to get back into the game and find the equalizer. With DeRo gone and new players starting the match, it was expected to be a difficult afternoon for Toronto. Once again it must be reiterated that it is a building process and the team will learn to cope with DeRo’s absence.

Some positives were evident, as Martina showed great signs of class and will be an integral part of the club moving forward. Several team practices for the new players with the club will create harmony and consistency within the team. Toronto FC can only see themselves moving forward after today, keeping in mind players must remain healthy.

Toronto FC will need to perform and prove their fans that they are a competitive team to maintain the atmosphere BMO Field is used to. The game’s attendance is still considered great in comparison to MLS numbers but 18,968 is below TFC’s regular attendance numbers of 20000 or more. It was evident that there were  many empty seats which in turn made the television broadcast look very unattractive for those watching at home. Whether the attendance numbers are due to the DeRo trade or a lack of interest from fans after 4 unsuccessful season, it remains unknown. The club will need to earn their supporters back with several positive performances at home and on the road.

TFC will now head away from home to face off against the San Jose Earthquakes before coming back for a three game home stint.

Ratings for players from 1 (low) to 10 (high), ranked by position:

Toronto FC
Stefan Frei: 7
He may have not been able to do much about the goal, but did well with what came his way as the game went on.

Ty Harden: 6.5
Did well as a right back, contributed a few crosses on the attack. Still room for improvement!

Nana Attakora: 5.5
Came back from injury and may have been at fault for the goal. Not one of his best performances and was subbed off in the second half.

Adrian Cann: 6.5
Decent performance, with no visible mistakes.

Danleigh Borman: 6.5
Did well to contribute to the team offensively and defensively considering not practicing with the team prior to the game.

Jacob Peterson: 6.5
Did well on the set piece to set up Alan Gordon for the equalizer.  Subbed off at the half for De Guzman.

Tony Tchani: 6.5
Did well throughout the game for a player who has not practiced with the team, could possibly do more.

Alen Stevanovic: 6.5
Did well working with Borman, would probably wish Maicon Santos passed the ball for him to score the winner. Subbed off in the second half after getting injured. He is also another player whose contribution will become greater as time goes on.

Javier Martina: 7
Had a decent game showed great foot work and will be an integral part of the team.

Maicon Santos: 6
Captained the team for the day, scores a low rating today due to his horrible miss. Otherwise he is another player that will be an important part moving forward.

Alan Gordon: 7
A decent game, was at the end of several crosses and set pieces but did not do enough to create solid chances. Scored the equalizer and celebrated with class.

Subs Used:
Julian  De Guzman: 5.5
Came on for Peterson, still needs time to come back from injury. His distribution still lacking, got himself a yellow card for his efforts this afternoon.

Decoy Williams: 6.5
Another new signing making his debut, came on for Attakora who just returned from injury. From what was seen can easily take Attakora’s starting spot on the team.

Joao Plata: N/A
Came on for the injured Stevanovic, had little impact on the game.

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Martina wins MLS Goal of the Week!

Martina - Photo Credit to Catherine Solmes

TFC striker Javier Martina has won his first ever MLS Goal of the Week award for his amazing finish in the 2-0 win against Portlant Timbers at BMO Field on Saturday. It was his second MLS goal in his two appearances. Martina’s goal gave TFC the assurance lead that they held on with to win the game. The goal assisted by Frei has shown his striker’s instinct which gives everyone a taste of what he can bring to the team in the future.

For two weeks in a row, DC United’s Dejan Jakovic has been the victim of questionable referee decisions. In the season opener he was penalized for allegedly “handling” a ball that clearly was struck into his hand which was close to his body in the only logical position. Since DC United won that game handily 3-1, little was made of the call.

In the second instance he was ejected for a phantom act of misconduct. Unable to identify the nature of his offense, the MLS Disciplinary Committee was gracious enough to lift his fine on that basis. They claimed that they could not rescind his one game suspension due to overriding FIFA rules.

That’s interesting. Let’s look at what the English Premier League just did. Sky Sports News reported on a 22 March game incident, “Sunderland defender John Mensah has had the red card he received in the 2-0 defeat by Liverpool rescinded on appeal.” He will be allowed to play this weekend.

I applaud the EPL solution and wonder why MLS has not shown the same sense of justice. Either MLS is a second class league or EPL has special privileges. A running theme throughout FIFA has been “Fair play, please”. Actions that undermine that are frowned upon.

As technology has advanced, the soccer community has very slowly integrated it into its decision making process. We see that in how MLS referees receive feedback and training. They are given immediate feedback in person by a game advisor and are later reviewed and assessed via game tape. We see it the rescission of Jakovic’s fine.

That is a half measure at best. Among the terms of art used in referee reports is “game disrepute”. In the absence of a better explanation of this feeble decision, I’m calling this one on MLS.

The decision has a devastating effect on DC United who have already lost the services of their other starting central defender, Perry Kitchen, who is off captaining the US National Under-20 team in CONCACAF qualifying.

Coach Ben Olsen will have to cobble together a competent defense from among the least deep pool of talent on his team to confront the reigning MLS Champion Colorado Rapids in Colorado on Sunday. To add to his woes, Jed Zayner remains questionable with a hamstring strain.

The only remaining defenders include rookies Chris Korb and Ethan White, international Rodrigo Brasesco, veteran Marc Burch, and Daniel Woolard. They will be hard pressed to keep up with a Colorado squad accustomed to playing at high altitude.

T o help ease pressure on them, Olsen has a world of talented depth in both midfield and attack. His young and inexperienced defense will need extra support from the midfield, arguing in favor of a defensively oriented Dax McCarty and Clyde Simms (questionable with a calf strain) or Kurt Morsink in the center.

Goals will have to come from the wings and from intelligent runs by the forwards. Expect to see Josh Wolff (questionable with a hamstring strain) play primarily a withdrawn forward looking to counter or make a quick switch to a central attack.

A large part of the “man of the match” play by Wolff in the season opener was attributable to his ability to find or create space with intelligent movement. In his absence, Joseph Ngwenya is likely to assume that role in tandem with Charlie Davies, whose speed will be better employed in pure countering thrusts.

Alternatively, Blake Brettschneider has shown a nose for goal and good energy in reserve matches. He may start with the role of tiring the Rapids defense to free up Davies in the second half.

DC United does not generally do well on its trips to Denver, but Olsen has developed a scrappy team with youngsters who are eager to prove their ability. Every so often this sort of adversity brings out a surprise victory. Don’t underestimate Olsen’s army.