defender Bryan Namoff for a second bookable offense after a hard tackle on Herron, then Josh Gros with a straight red after a late challenge on Thiago.
Here's Sarachan's team (3-4-1-2): Matt Pickens - C.J. Brown, Tony Sanneh, Dasan Robinson - Nate Jaqua (Brian Plotkin 29), Chris Armas, Diego Gutierrez, Gonzalo Segares - Thiago (Jim Curtin 89) - Chris Rolfe, Andy Herron (Calen Carr 81). [Subs Not Used: Floyd Franks, Leonard Griffin, David Mahoney, Justin Mapp]
Here's Nowak's team (3-4-1-2): Troy Perkins - Facundo Erpen, Bobby Boswell, Bryan Namoff - Joshua Gros, Matias Donnet (Robert Ssejjemba 65), Brian Carroll, Stephen deRoux - Christian Gomez (David Stokes 89) - Jaime Moreno, Freddy Adu (Rod Dyachenko 76). [Substitutes Not Used: Jeff Carroll, Brandon Prideaux, Nick Rimando, Clyde Simms]
D.C. UNITED
Despite last weekend's 2-1 loss to the New England Revolution, D.C. United have a chance to equal the club's best-ever record point-wise with a victory Sunday afternoon. Already the winner of the MLS Supporters' Shield, emblematic of the league's best regular season record, with 55 points from 31 games, United can match the 58 points recorded in the 1998 season. United will take on either the New York Red Bulls or Kansas City Wizards in the Eastern Conference Semifinals; the opponent will be known by kickoff on Sunday.
LAST MATCH
United had clinched the Supporters' Shield the week before despite losing to Houston Dynamo, a second reverse in three games. The Revolution were once again putting on a late-season charge, unbeaten in five games.
United struck first. Bryan Namoff skipped down the right flank and hammered in a low cross that Jaime Moreno just couldn't control with his first touch. But Christian Gomez was there and stabbed home past Matt Reis from the heart of the area (26).
But New England pulled level eight minutes through a great goal. Andy Dorman glided forward before finding Clint Dempsey running through, and his first touch sent him clean behind the United back three. Coming in on goal, Dempsey sent a sublime touch over the top of the advancing Troy Perkins, just days after he was awarded U.S. Soccer Player of the Year honors.
Just after the break the Revolution hit for the winner. A corner was driven in from the right, and Jay Heaps flicked it on to the far post where Taylor Twellman dived headlong to power a rising header into the roof of the net. The goal put Twellman into the MLS record books at the youngest player in league history to reach 75 career goals.
United head coach Peter Nowak made one change to the team that lost 1-0 to Houston Dynamo the weekend before. With Josh Gros suspended, Rod Dyachenko came in as a striker, with Freddy Adu returning to a wide midfield role.
Here's Nowak's team (3-4-1-2): Troy Perkins - Bryan Namoff, Bobby Boswell, Brandon Prideaux - Matias Donnet (Stephen deRoux 61), Brian Carroll, Ben Olsen, Freddy Adu (Jamil Walker 82) - Christian Gomez - Rod Dyachenko (Alecko Eskandarian 61), Jaime Moreno. [Substitutes Not Used: Jeff Carroll, Nick Rimando, Clyde Simms, David Stokes]
"I think offensively we're doing our job. Defensively we let them come, and we left too much space between our lines, and that's why we have problems. We need to make it right. There is enough time to do it, but we have to recognize and address these problems," Nowak said.TEAM NEWS
On paper, the result meant nothing. But there was palpable concern in the United locker room after United suffered their second one-goal loss in as many weeks and missed an important opportunity to establish momentum on the eve of the postseason.
"We cannot go winning 1-0 to getting two goals probably from nothing. We will address also the situation after the halftime because it's unacceptable when we go playing the second half, it's a wide-open game, but it's still 1-1," Nowak said. "We have 45 minutes to score a goal. We gave up the goal in a minute and 20 seconds. That's unacceptable for this kind of team, end of question. If you go into the playoffs and play this type of game, this stuff is going to hurt you."
United were awarded the Supporters' Shield before the game, the second time the club has taken the honor in MLS history. But they made it clear the aims of the year were not yet achieved.
"No, this is not our goal for the year. It's MLS Cup. That's our goal. And this, as I said, we'll address this. Winning the Supporters' Shield means that we're halfway to achieving the goals we set before the season started," Nowak said. "We have a lot of work ahead of us. We'll start right away. I think the guys have enough off time right now. They know that we have to go back to work, and they have to improve every single day."
A key addition heading into the postseason could be the addition of striker Alecko Eskandarian. He came on as a second-half substitute, making his first appearance in seven games.
"It was good to be back. Our combinations were good. I felt like I was never gone. By no means am I 100 percent fit, but I'm a hard worker. It will only take me a couple days to get 100 percent fit," Eskandarian said. "I've always been the type of guy that when I'm on the field I don't think about anything and I just play. It's a good thing and it's a bad thing. It's a good thing that I'm able to get through the day. It's a bad thing because I usually pay the price afterwards."
While the game could be all but meaningless by kickoff, United are aiming to treat the match like a playoff game - almost in a must-win situation.
"We've lost our last two games. With one game left before going into the playoffs, we have to win. We have no choice but to win for the confidence of this team," said Freddy Adu. "We have to win that game against Chicago. Chicago's beaten us pretty handily this season, so that would be a huge confidence boost."
But it comes against a team that United has struggled against this year - and could also be an Eastern Conference Championship preview. That would also bring in memories of a year ago, when the Fire defeated D.C. 4-0 in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at RFK Stadium.
"I just think their style is kind of similar to ours. I just think their style is a little different from the other teams, so it takes us a while to adjust to it," said Rod Dyachenko. "Obviously, they have some quality players on top. They have quickness. They have quality all over the field. They're a tough opponent, but I think with the concentration - that we've been kind of lacking lately - I think that we can get the job done."
CHICAGO FIRE
Although losing 4-1 to the Columbus Crew last weekend, the Chicago Fire head into the weekend still with a chance to finish second in the Eastern Conference and secure home-field advantage for the conference semifinals. With 44 points from 31 matches, they trail the New England Revolution by a point. If the Revolution win on Saturday, the semifinal series will begin in Bridgeview. If the Revolution tie on Saturday, then Chicago needs to defeat D.C. United to move ahead; a Columbus victory at New England, and the Fire need only draw to ensure the two-leg first round series will begin in Foxborough.
LAST MATCH
Both teams knew their future as the Fire and Crew met at Toyota Park. The Crew had already failed to reach the MLS Cup Playoffs for a second successive season, while the Fire knew they would face the Revolution in the conference semifinals -- the only question was where.
Once again the Fire hit for an early goal. C.J. Brown found Chris Armas in the area, and he somehow eluded a host of Crew defenders to spin away to the endline before knocking a ball back for Chris Rolfe at the top of the goal area, and he had the simplest of finishes past 'keeper Andy Gruenebaum, making his first MLS start.
The Crew leveled the score midway through the half. Joseph Ngwenya put in a low cross from the right flank, and Jason Garey trapped the ball yards from the byeline. He laid back a quick pass to Eddie Gaven, who blasted the ball home from the corner of the goal area to tie the game (26).
With the game heading into first-half injury time, Ngwenya again played provider. This time he whipped in a hard, low cross across the top of the goal area and Garey came rushing in to volley the ball first-time past Matt Pickens.
The Crew put the game away with two goals in seven minutes late in the second half. In the 76th minute, Ricardo Virtuoso was the beneficiary of a Gaven tackle, taking over and cruising into the area before hitting a low angled shot that settled inside Pickens' left-hand post.
Then Virtuoso put in a long cross from the left corner and Gaven deflected it goalward, only for Pickens to make a diving save. But Ngwenya was first to it and tapped in for a deserved goal to round out the scoreline.
Fire head coach Dave Sarachan made four changes to his team as he returned to a first-choice lineup. C.J. Brown and Tony Sanneh came into the back three for Dasan Robinson and Jim Curtin. Diego Gutierrez came in for Logan Pause, and Justin Mapp returned to the playmaking role in place of Thiago.
Here's Sarachan's team (3-4-1-2): Matt Pickens - C.J. Brown (Calen Carr 74), Tony Sanneh, Gonzalo Segares - Nate Jaqua (Thiago 66), Chris Armas, Diego Gutierrez (Brian Plotkin 79), Ivan Guerrero - Justin Mapp - Chris Rolfe, Andy Herron. [Substitutes Not Used: Jim Curtin, Logan Pause, Dasan Robinson, Zach Thornton]
"Obviously this is not the way we want to finish the regular season at home. Columbus is a team that scares you because they're out of the playoffs, they're playing loose, and we were second on a lot of plays tonight, and it killed us," Sarachan said. "We didn't win a second ball all night. They ran at us, and we just didn't manage this game very well."TEAM NEWS
The Fire came into the match against a team that was already eliminated from playoff contention with a possibility of clinching home-field advantage, but they now will have to come away from RFK Stadium with a victory to ensure that.
"We wanted second place, and now it's not out of reach, but it's certainly out of our hands a little bit and we have to get the result next week and so forth. We didn't have it [last year] and we did the business in the two-game series," said Sarachan. "You could argue it back and forth which is really the advantage and honestly I don't have the answer to that. I think it's always nice in the second game if you can get it at home if it goes to a mini-game now you're in your own building. But the odds of that happening are kind of slim so either way we'll be prepared."
Still, the reaction to the game was a bigger concern. "Hopefully we use this as a wakeup call to get our minds right and get ourselves back in sync," Sarachan said. "I still have a lot of confidence in this group, but we've got to make plays and we've got to do a lot better in a lot of parts of the field if we're going to make any kinds of moves towards the next goal of winning the next cup."
Another downer was the drubbing in front of a sellout crowd for the final regular season home game of the season. "It is disappointing because the crowd is going to be a real important piece to our success and we always feel that they make the effort to come and watch us, we want to put forth the effort to put on a good performance. It is frustrating to know that we didn't give them the best look at what our product should look like," Sarachan said. "But knowing that the fans are behind us, we hope that in the playoff game they'll all show up and continue to give us the support that we feel we need."
Said Chris Armas: "It's hard to explain on a night where you have a lot to play for. The support was there with the crowd tonight. Very disappointing and embarrassing on our end. We should be much better at this point of the year. We've got a lot of work to do."
The four goals allowed were a season high. But Sarachan was not ready to say a goalkeeping change was imminent. "I've got to watch the tape and see where the breakdowns were, to be very honest. My first inclination is to say there were a number of plays tonight that Matt couldn't have made," he said. "The numbers coming at us were ridiculous and that's got to get cleaned up again before I make a comment on that."
