D.C. United re-introduced themselves to their home fans in style with a 5-0 victory against Harbour View FC at RFK Stadium on Tuesday night, sealing passage to the CONCACAF Champions' Cup semifinals and showing a glimpse of their explosive potential with four goals in the game's final half-hour.
Having racked up plenty of frequent flyer miles over a peripatetic preseason that began in late January, the Black-and-Red were clearly pleased to be back in their RFK home -- which once again can boast one of the finest playing surfaces in Major League Soccer now that most signs of baseball's presence have been removed -- and last week's 1-1 draw in Kingston was all but forgotten as their Jamaican counterparts had no answer for United's array of offensive weapons.
"Obviously I'm much more pleased than I was in Jamaica," said D.C. head coach Tom Soehn after the match.
"The field conditions, and just everything, the stadium being in such good shape, it was a benefit for us and being gone so long, playing in Jamaica and now coming home -- it's exciting for everybody," Soehn continued. "You could see the excitement in the guys the minute we got back. I'm much more pleased with our organization, our shape in the back, and of course, finishing off chances. You can create, but you still have to finish and we did a pretty good job of that."
United were the better side in the first half, but struggled to test Harbour View goalkeeper Dwayne Miller until a Marcelo Gallardo free kick trickled through a crowded penalty box and fell for Devon McTavish to finish in the 26th minute. D.C. rode out a brief Harbour View rally after halftime, then struck for three goals in five minutes beginning with Luciano Emilio's left-footer in the 62nd minute.
"I think when we were able to score the second goal, they really felt that and it was easier for us to put more pressure on them," said United left winger Fred. "The game was over after that, pretty much."
McTavish soon grabbed his second, only to be matched by Emilio, who showed his shrewd poaching instincts to head home the rebound from a Santino Quaranta shot. Last year's MLS Golden Boot winner, Emilio had been starved for service in last week's first leg but on Tuesday he credited his teammates for using the RFK field's width to spread the Harbour View back line.
"Tommy told us to play on the wings, especially with Gallardo, to open up space up top," explained the Brazilian, "and I think that helped us to send service into the box, for us to score the goals."
The home side had truly gotten the measure of HVFC's high back line and was slicing through the Jamaicans at will as time ticked away. United spurned several more chances to expand their lead, though, before Fred scored the game's final goal -- then reached into his shorts to produce a children's pacifier, which he later explained was a celebration of his wife's pregnancy.
D.C. will now turn its attention to tomorrow night's second-leg match between CD Motagua of Honduras and Mexican side Pachuca to learn the identity of their semifinal opponents; the first leg between those clubs finished scoreless. While the lopsided victory against Harbour View will certainly build his team's confidence, Soehn knows that there is heavy labor ahead.
"We still have a lot to work on and the next series starts 0-0 -- these five don't help us in the next one," he said. "Every series is different. The next one, we're on the road first, and wherever it may be, it'll be a challenge. The exciting part is, we get to come back home in front of what I still feel are the best fans in the league -- competing with some of the best fans in the world -- in a stadium that's pretty hard to play in."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
