and Wolyniec scored on that day, a 3-2 win. It was also New York's first win against their Eastern Conference rivals since Oct. 8, 2005 at RFK Stadium, and Bruce Arena's first victory against the club where he started his professional coaching career.
• Here's Arena's team (4-4-2): Jon Conway - Hunter Freeman, Jeff Parke (Joe Vide 46), Carlos Mendes, Kevin Goldthwaite - Dane Richards, Claudio Reyna (Dema Kovalenko 73), Seth Stammler, Clint Mathis (Dave van den Bergh 85) - Jozy Altidore, John Wolyniec. Substitutes Not Used: Danny Cepero, Jerrod Laventure, Chris Leitch, Markus Schopp
• Here's Soehn's team (4-3-1-2): Troy Perkins - Devon McTavish, Bobby Boswell, Greg Vanney, Marc Burch (Stephen deRoux 73) - Clyde Simms (Nicholas Addlery 55), Brian Carroll, Joshua Gros - Christian Gomez - Luciano Emilio, Fred. Substitutes Not Used: Rod Dyachenko, Jeff Carroll, Domenic Mediate, Jay Nolly
D.C. UNITED
D.C. United won for the third league game in a row, recording a third consecutive shutout in a 1-0 victory against the Columbus Crew on Saturday evening at Crew Stadium. United kept pace in the Eastern Conference, now with 33 points from 19 matches, still level with the Red Bulls (who have played one game more), both clubs six points in arrears of the New England Revolution.
LAST MATCH
• United were trying to shake off the disappointment of their SuperLiga defeat at midweek, though they had recorded shutout wins in back-to-back league games, while the Crew were trying to shed memories of their second loss in 10 games, a 3-2 loss to 10-man FC Dallas where they twice held leads.
• The Crew had the better of the play in a hard-fought conference battle, but United struck twice in an 11-minute span in the second half for the win. In the 52nd minute, Clyde Simms sent his header from a cross from the right off the base of the post. The rebound came back to him, but his second try was blocked. But it then rolled just to the edge of the box where Fred came steaming in and pounded home a wicked first-time blast.
• Then in the 63rd, Fred tried to filter through a pass for Luciano Emilio, but Crew defender Ezra Hendrickson was quickest to it. Yet as he dribbled toward his own goal, he turned in his own area -- right into the path of the chasing Emilio, and the Brazilian drove home a quick shot through the legs of Crew 'keeper Will Hesmer for his league-leading 14th goal of the season.
• United head coach Tom Soehn made three changes to the team that defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy in their last league game, 1-0 on Aug. 9 at RFK Stadium. Greg Vanney came into the team in central defense for Bobby Boswell, Christian Gomez returned to the lineup after a two-match absence, for Ben Olsen, and Jaime Moreno returned to his starting role for Guy-Roland Kpene.
• Here's Soehn's team (4-3-1-2): Troy Perkins - Bryan Namoff, Devon McTavish, Greg Vanney, Marc Burch - Fred, Clyde Simms, Joshua Gros (Domenic Mediate 9) - Christian Gomez (Brian Carroll 76) - Jaime Moreno (Rod Dyachenko 86), Luciano Emilio. Substitutes Not Used: Bobby Boswell, Guy-Roland Kpene, Justin Moose, Jay Nolly
TEAM NEWS
• United had remained on the road since their midweek loss in the SuperLiga semifinals to the Los Angeles Galaxy (a 2-0 loss), and over the opening 45 minutes it looked as if they were still in the throes of that performance.
• "First half, we weren't very good with the ball and they came out with a lot of life. We have to get through stretches like that and contain the pressure, but we weren't good off of the ball at the start," Soehn said. "At halftime we made some tactical adjustments that opened up a lot of space for us. Along with that we were much better with the ball and created some room on the flanks and doing that relaxed some weaknesses of theirs."
• It's just the second time in D.C. United the club has recorded shutouts in three consecutive games. United had shutouts against Chicago (2-0), Colorado (0-0) and Columbus (3-0) from June 6-14, 2003, which contributed to what was then the longest shutout streak in United club history.
• However, the Black-and-Red now have not allowed a goal in 341 minutes in league play, the longest stretch in the club's history, three minutes longer than the stretch set last season from April 2-22.
• "I always say that defending starts with your forwards. And when they do a good job of making them play predictable, it is easy for everyone else behind," Soehn said. "I think that our performance defensively as a unit has been much better. Any time you're throwing shutouts, that is important."
•; Over the first 15 games of the MLS campaign, United had recorded shutouts on just two occasions. Over all competitions, they now have shutouts in four of their last six games.
• "We withstood Columbus' pressure in the first half, but they weren't dangerous opportunities," defender Greg Vanney said to The Washington Times. "In the second half, we sent guys forward and when we got up by two goals we were able to defend it out and not give up anything."
• With the game the second match in four days on the road, and facing two Eastern Conference matches this week, Soehn took the opportunity to give Bobby Boswell a rest, while Ben Olsen was held out with a slight ankle injury. But after just nine minutes he was forced into another change when Josh Gros was slammed in the head with a ball, suffering an apparent concussion.
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls won one of the greatest games in MLS history, defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy in a nine-goal thriller before a massive throng at Giants Stadium last Saturday evening. The Red Bulls remain tied for second place in the Eastern Conference with 33 points from 20 matches (one more than United), the two teams still six points behind the New England Revoluition.
LAST MATCH
• The Galaxy were heading back on the road after a quick trip home to win their SuperLiga semifinal against D.C. United, though they were winless in four games and held without a goal in their last three. The Red Bulls were coming off their first game in nearly three weeks, a 3-0 rout of Toronto FC.
• Before a crowd of 66,237, the eighth-largest crowd in MLS annals, the game got off to an amazing start, with three goals in the opening eight minutes. Juan Pablo Angel opened the scoring for the Red Bulls after just four minutes, sending a free kick from just outside the box under the wall as it jumped into the air in unison, Galaxy 'keeper Joe Cannon just unable to keep it out at his right-hand post.
• But two set-piece services from David Beckham within three minutes put the Galaxy in front. In the sixth minute, he drove in a corner from the left and Carlos Pavon got up at the near post to send home a snap header for his first MLS goal. Then in the eighth minute, the pair teamed up again. Beckham whipped in a free kick from the right side and Pavon laid out for a diving header beyond the far post.
• The Red Bulls leveled the game in first-half stoppage time. Dane Richards got around the corner on the left and sent in a cross that was deflected, falling in the center of the area. Clint Mathis came on and sent a piledriver of a volley into the back of the net.
• Mathis then took his turn on center stage four minutes after the restart. From a perfect ball he sent over the Galaxy back line, Jozy Altidore raced onto it and lashed a low shot past Cannon to give New York the lead. Then, the 17-year-old sensation played his part, doubling the Red Bulls lead when he skipped around a pair of LA defenders in the area and pulled back a low shot across his body that nestled inside the left-hand post.
• Yet the Galaxy weren't done, and there was still time for more stars to shine. Almost straight from the kickoff, Landon Donovan took the ball, skated through nearly the entire Red Bulls defense and ripped a low shot from the right side of the area inside the far post. And in the 82nd minute they pulled level. Beckham hooked in another corner, Kyle Veris saw his header crash off the face of the crossbar, but Edson Buddle was there to poke home the rebound from inside the six.
• There was one final coda, and it came from Mathis, Angel and the Red Bulls. Mathis hammered a drive from outside the area that Cannon did well to stop with a dive to his left. But he couldn't hold the rebound, and Angel followed up, hooking home the rebound from a near impossible angle on the right for his 12th goal on the year and the late winner.
• Red Bulls manager Bruce Arena made one change to the team that knocked off Toronto FC 3-0 a week earlier. Claudio Reyna was sidelined and so Clint Mathis came into the team in his central midfield role.
• Here's Arena's team (4-4-2): Ronald Waterreus - Hunter Freeman, Jeff Parke, Seth Stammler, Chris Leitch - Dane Richards, Clint Mathis (Carlos Mendes 90), Joe Vide, Dave van den Bergh (John Wolyniec 84) - Jozy Altidore (Mike Magee 92+), Juan Pablo Angel. Substitutes Not Used: Jon Conway, Kevin Goldthwaite, Claudio Reyna, Sinisa Ubiparipovic
• "I think if you talked to Frank Yallop and I behind closed doors, we'd tell you we had a lot of breakdowns throughout the night. But having said that, it's all part of the game. Scoring goals is an important part of growing the sport in this country," Arena said. " ... We are certainly at fault for poor defending on restarts, but I think the performance by Altidore, Angel and Mathis was superb. I think they did a fantastic job."
TEAM NEWS
• On a night when some of the veteran stars of MLS came out to play, 17-year-old wunderkind Jozy Altidore also played his role with a pair of well-taken goals.
• "The goals speak for himself. He's a dangerous player. What I like about him is that he is a young kid that has a lot of confidence," Arena said. "The physical ability, and now the technical side is starting to surface for him. His first touch is improving. He's doing a much better job holding up the ball. When he faces defenders, he can go by them and he can finish off his chances. It's a kid that's going to be 18 years old in November and he is starting to show that he is a player with a lot of potential."
• In addition, Clint Mathis showed the kind of ability on the biggest stage of the season that had his stock so high around the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Mathis scored a smashing goal and set up another with a terrific pass.
• "Clint's worked pretty hard. His fitness is kind of a question mark. Clint demonstrated tonight that he is still a pretty good player. His passing is excellent. He scored a timely goal and he showed a lot of heart," said Arena. "We're very thin in the midfield with the injuries to (Claudio) Reyna and (Dema) Kovalenko. For Clint to come in with a young kid like Joe Vide and try and deal with Beckham and Donovan for most of the game, I give him a lot of credit."
• For Mathis, the equalizing goal in first-half stoppage time was his 45th with the New York club, now the most for any player to play with the MetroStars/Red Bulls.
• "It was great. I didn't even really think about No. 45 until I saw somebody cheering. Records are great, but they are just numbers -- they are meant to be broken," Mathis said. "It is a great honor to pass someone like Giovanni Savarese, who is a great guy and a great soccer player. It's a great honor in that respect, but I was a little happier that we got that second goal to tie it up right before halftime."
• Now the Red Bulls must rebound from the thrilling evening and victory for a huge game at RFK Stadium. The top two teams in each conference will only be guaranteed playoff spots; the next four will be teams 5-8 in the MLS overall table.
• "I don't think it's guarding a letdown as much as it's regrouping and getting some gas back in the tank. I think this was a performance that took a lot out of our team and it's going to be important if we can recover physically," Arena said. "We'll need to bring a couple new players into the team on Wednesday. I don't think we'll have a letdown on the mental side; we just have to make sure we do a good job in making sure our players recover and get them physically ready to play."
