Paced by the first career hat trick from Ben Olsen -- and despite playing a man down for the final half hour -- D.C. United strolled to a 4-2 victory Sunday afternoon against the New York Red Bulls at RFK Stadium.
Olsen scored a goal in the first half, matched by one from current New York and former United midfielder Dema Kovalenko, and netted 12 minutes apart over the final quarter of the match after Bobby Boswell was sent off with a second yellow card. Luciano Emilio scored the go-ahead goal for United just minutes after the break, while Juan Pablo Angel rounded out the scoring with his sixth goal in five matches for the Red Bulls.
Jaime Moreno very nearly opened the match with a sensational goal in the second minute as he curled an angled shot towards the far corner from 12 yards out, but his effort flew just wide of the target.
Five minutes later, his South American counterpart Angel was presented with a much simpler opportunity at the other end. While he's earned the reputation as a merciless opportunist in front of goal, his finishing let him down on this occasion as he blasted well over the target after a fortuitous rebound fell at his feet just five yards from goal.
Five minutes later Boswell made a mistake that made him the first entry in referee Brian Hall's notebook as he body-blocked the much smaller Dane Richards off a 50-50 ball but neglected to take a touch as it rolled past, earning a yellow card. Claudio Reyna served a high cross into the box on the ensuing free kick but could not find an open white jersey as United cleared.
D.C. left back Josh Gros had been quiet thus far, staying deep to mind the threat posed by Richards' pace, but he roved forward in the 15th minute to make an incisive pass that put his team up 1-0. Moving down the left touchline, he cut inside onto his right foot and curled an inswinging diagonal ball into the Red Bulls' box that found Olsen slipping behind Seth Stammler. With goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus caught in no-man's-land, Olsen's header bounced into an empty net for his second goal of the season.
But New York, cheered by a decent-sized contingent of traveling fans sitting in the upper deck, responded moments later with a fortunate goal from Kovalenko. The Ukrainian-born veteran seemed out of options as he was closed down at the top of the D.C. penalty area, and his half-cross/half-shot looked relatively harmless until it deflected off Bryan Namoff and looped into the net with Troy Perkins stranded.
Emilio came close to breaking his recent scoring drought just two minutes later, running onto an intelligent flick from Moreno to rip a low drive that would have beaten Waterreus had it not skipped inches wide of his right-hand post.
While the Red Bulls were probing the home side's defense with plenty of crosses in search of the active Angel, D.C. was enjoying more coherent strings of possession and nearly scored again on a frenetic sequence just past the half-hour mark.
Emilio was clipped as he set himself to shoot at the top of the New York box, but Hall waved play on and Olsen intercepted an outlet pass and switched play to Fred as he beat the Bulls' offside trap down the left side. The Brazilian whipped a left-footed cross into the goalmouth that found the head of a backpedaling Gomez, but Emilio couldn't latch onto the loose ball before Waterreus arrived to collect.
At the other end, Reyna released Richards with a nice curling ball over Gros' head that got the Jamaican-born speedster in behind the defense to hit a dangerous cross that required a timely clearing header from Facundo Erpen.
Shortly after, an interchange of passes between Richards and Angel was cut short when Erpen rashly slid in on the Colombian from behind. Hall blew his whistle and quickly produced a yellow card for United's Argentinean defender. The home fans shifted nervously as Angel stood over the dangerously-placed set piece, but were relieved to see Perkins shuffle to his left to glove the former Aston Villa star's shot on goal.
The first half had been an evenly matched affair, but United seized the advantage with a strong start to the second stanza and their work paid off within minutes. Fred carved open the New York defense in transition with a mazy run before slotting a teasing pass into the path of Gomez's late run into the box - but with only an advancing Waterreus to beat, the United playmaker chipped his effort just inches over the bar.
Fred would not be denied, however. Moments later D.C. attacked the heart of the Red Bulls rearguard again and found gaping holes, allowing another darting dribble by the Brazilian. This time he set the table for Emilio, and his countryman did not miss, stroking a low finish into the right corner of the net to restore his team's lead.
But the game changed yet again just before the hour mark. Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena had thrown Jozy Altidore on in place of the misfiring Dave van den Bergh in the 57th minute, and the big young striker quickly got himself in the game with a hard-charging run after Clint Mathis' diagonal ball into space. His pace and power were too much for Boswell and the tall center back appeared to grab Altidore before Gros could poke the ball away.
Hall called the foul and decided on a second booking for Boswell, which sent him to an early shower and forced D.C. to finish the match with 10 men.
But the setback scarcely broke United's stride, as the Black-and-Red seemed to thrive on the extra space while the Red Bulls labored to make the advantage count. The result was effectively decided in the 72nd minute when Olsen, long United's heart and soul, popped up once again to give his shorthanded side a vital goal that sealed the victory against their Atlantic Cup rivals.
As Gomez took possession just inside the New York half, Brian Carroll made a well-timed forward run into open space in front of the New York back line, quickly receiving the ball and swinging it wide to Olsen as he raced down the right channel. The veteran strode into the box and faked a shot to freeze Stammler before cutting back and clipping a left-footed shot that deflected off Waterreus before bouncing into the net despite Taylor Graham's late lunge.
A Mathis corner kick caused commotion in the United box three minutes later, as Carlos Mendes tried to muscle past Olsen to reach Angel's headed flick. But Perkins made an athletic play to snuff out the danger, diving over the two wrestling bodies to claim the loose ball.
Once a flashy winger, now a grizzled field general, Olsen's days as an offensive force seemed to be long behind him - but there was no denying the quality of the 20-yard volley that gave him a stunning hat trick in the 84th minute.
Gomez and Moreno had kept possession while they waited for their teammates to arrive in the attacking end, and when Moreno's lateral pass found Olsen at the top of the box, the midfielder took a quick touch before drilling a frozen rope into the upper-right corner of the goal to send the RFK faithful into ecstasy.
The Red Bulls quickly struck back with a fine finish from Angel, but it was scant consolation as they headed home empty-handed after a disappointing afternoon. The victory extends United's unbeaten streak to six matches while handing New York a second loss in three matches where they've allowed eight goals, after conceding just four over their opening eight matches.
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
