D.C. United continued their winning ways on Saturday night, notching a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Crew at RFK Stadium to run their lead atop the Eastern Conference to an incredible 20 points - but the win was blemished by a late swoon that nearly allowed the struggling visitors to steal a point off the top squad in MLS.
"There was a stain on that game because we tried to give it away in the end," said midfielder Ben Olsen. "We've got to be sharper, because a better team punishes us for some of those mistakes."
Controlling possession for long periods, United forged ahead on a Christian Gomez goal in the 16th minute, only for Kei Kamara to nab a fortuitous leveler just before halftime. But even after Brian Carroll and Ben Olsen gave the hosts a 3-1 advantage, the plucky Crew kept working and after an Eric Vasquez strike in the 72nd minute, had several clear chances to equalize in the dying moments.
"Respect and credit to them, they were still pushing for the one point," said D.C. coach Peter Nowak. "We've got to work on the organization and make sure that these kind of goals will not happen to us.
"The first goal was from nothing, the second goal we didn't step up early and that's how we played them. At 3-1 we played too many negative balls. Every time we played forward we created chances - we had a lot of chances today and we have to finish them early, even in the first half."
United's three-goal output conceals what was actually a wasteful evening in front of goal. The Black-and-Red took 14 shots on the evening and forced eight saves from Crew netminder Noah Palmer, and should have sealed the result long before their anxious moments in the final 15 minutes when Kamara and Eddie Gaven squandered simple finishes from close range.
"Every time we scored goals, Columbus came back, and at the end of the game we were pretty nervous because we were very disorganized," said Nowak. "Everyone was doing whatever they want. There was space between our midfield line and back line and we were too close to each other, and Columbus had a couple of good chances. So they gave us trouble today."
Another source of concern was a first-half foot injury to United defender Facundo Erpen, sustained as he went to ground awkwardly in a tangle with Jacob Thomas. He was replaced at the halftime break by John Wilson, who could well be set for an extended run in the starting lineup as the D.C. coaching staff braces for bad news on the Argentinean's status.
"It doesn't look good," said Nowak of Erpen's injury. "I don't know what the verdict is going to be from our doctors, but it doesn't look good. I asked him in the locker room, and he was very pessimistic."
On a more positive note, Josh Gros contributed the sort of livewire, end-to-end performance that United fans have grown to expect from the tireless winger, and was content to escape with the victory, his team's sixth in a row.
"Especially when we went up 3-1, we were a little bit on cruise control, I think," he said. "We were just kind of being a little casual with our passing. ... With them coming back two times, it definitely threatened us a little bit. But we got that third goal and we got the win, that's all that matters. So it may not have have been pretty, but it was a win."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
