Fortune smiled and then frowned upon D.C. United at various points in a see-saw match against Chivas USA on Thursday that ended in a 2-2 draw.
That left United's players feeling a bit ambivalent about the entire proceeding.
"We lost points -- you never want to lose points," said defender Bobby Boswell of giving up a two-goal lead. "We were unfortunate with the goals we gave up -- two deflections."
Yet the post saved Boswell from giving up yet another goal to Chivas USA. Late in the first half, his clearance nearly went into his own net.
"I had to clear it, because I knew that Galindo was on the other side of me, so if I didn't make a play on it, I knew he would have," said Boswell. "I tried to put it out of bounds, but I was on a full sprint back, so I just tried to make a play on it. It happened so quick, I didn't even have time to go, 'Oh crap!' I guess it's fortunate it didn't go in, but we had some unfortunate breaks as well."
In fact, it was another clearance attempt, this one by goalkeeper Troy Perkins, that turned into Chivas USA's first goal. His kick bounced hard off Ante Razov and ricocheted into D.C.'s net.
"(Razov) wasn't even there when I hit it, then he comes across and jumps and it hits off the side of his leg and goes straight back," said Perkins. "I could hit that ball off a wall five times and not come close to the goal, so it was a little unlucky for us. Both goals were a little unlucky. The second goal takes a deflection and goes in. It's just one of those nights."
Perhaps the flukiness of the goals affected United somewhat.
"We stopped playing a little bit," said Perkins. "We've got to do a better job of killing the game."
Boswell said yielding a goal to Chivas USA gave their rivals a lot of hope.
"If we don't give that goal up, their heads are down going into the locker room," he said. "Every goal is important, especially later in the season against better teams. We've got to learn from it and move on."
United head coach Tom Soehn blamed the outcome partly on his team's fatigue, since United have had a busy recent stretch of games.
"We started out well," said Soehn. "We had about 20 minutes of soccer in us and you could see it wasn't the same throughout the rest of the game. They had chances. We'll take it."
Soehn was grateful for the breaks that did go his team's way. "We were fortunate to get our first two goals," he said.
Both strikes came courtesy of Luciano Emilio, who now leads the league in goals with 16.
"It's more than Luciano," said Soehn of D.C.'s offensive output. "He's the beneficiary of those players working well around him."
Emilio was in agreement. His first goal came after Gomez filtered a pass to Jaime Moreno, who quickly found Emilio at the top of the area. Emilio fed Moreno on the second, banging in the rebound after Brad Guzan saved Moreno's initial shot.
"Jaime (Moreno) and Christian (Gomez) and I have worked on a lot of give and go plays, and we're always looking for each other," said Emilio. "That's helped me score a lot of goals."
In the end, there was nothing to separate the two teams who are perhaps playing the best soccer in the league right now. United's Perkins saw definite similarities between the squads.
"At home, they press really well," said Perkins."They play with a lot of energy and passion at home and that's always tough to play against. It's the same as we are at home."
Perkins believed it was possible for the two squads to meet in the postseason.
"They're very creative and crafty," said Perkins. "If they play the way they're playing and we keep going, you never know."
Though D.C. came closest to breaking Chivas USA's home unbeaten streak, United players gave their opponents credit for fighting back.
"They actually brought the game to us pretty well, but you expect that on the road," said Boswell. "We can't get down about it; we got a point on the road, so it's not the end of the world."
United saw their six-game winning streak come to an end, but still took a point which pushed them to the top of the MLS overall standings, one point ahead of the New England Revolution - who United plays Sunday at RFK Stadium.
"We turned something that was harmless into a goal. Obviously, that's disappointing, but we've had a lot of games in a long stretch, so coming out with a point -- we're pretty pleased," Soehn said.
Andrea Canales is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
