D.C. United reached for something extra in their 1-0 win against the Kansas City Wizards at Arrowhead Stadium.
"Those games in the heat midday -- they're never pretty," said United defender Greg Vanney. "I think it always the team that guts it out, competes and takes their chance and capitalizes on it."
The match was played starting at noon, with a bright sun pushing the temperature to 85 degrees. And there was the matter of the humidity -- registered at 64 percent.
But United survived a first-half onslaught from the Wizards and got the game's only goal from Luciano Emilio just before halftime. Then they withstood another push after the break, but held on for the win.
"They pushed the game on us. They created dangerous opportunities," said United coach Tom Soehn.
Defender Clyde Simms assisted on the capital moment when United forward Luciano Emilio put the visitors ahead for good. He won a 50-50 ball and headed it on to midfielder Fred.
"Nobody really was in there for the second ball," Simms said. "So I kind of pushed it up and I could see that Fred wanted the header. I just tried to get a head to the ball and sent it to him. He managed to slip it to Emilio who finished well in a tight situation."
Fred was able to find Emilio in tight quarters in the penalty area. His shot seemed to surprise Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman as it sailed inside the right-hand post.
"When I caught the ball and I turned, I had the impression that would be a defender was coming right at me. So that's why I kind of faked and created my own space to get the shot off," Emilio said through an interpreter.
The United offense is clicking without all-star forward Jaime Moreno, who scored for Bolivia in their 2-2 draw with Peru in the Copa America on Tuesday night. And the defense is humming along without defender Bobby Boswell.
"We absorbed a lot of pressure and we weren't having a lot of possessions," said Vanney, who was making his debut for United after being acquired in a trade with the Colorado Rapids. "The quality of individuals that we have in the attack, at any moment we're a dangerous team. That's the exciting part of joining this team. We can turn a game like this at the drop of the hat."
The Wizards had plenty of chances. They had 21 shots for the match, eight of them on goal.
"It was a combination of (goalkeeper) Troy (Perkins) being on his game today," Vanney said. "I do think a lot of the chances they had weren't entirely clean. We had guys challenging from sideways and pressuring from behind. Troy was just cutting off angles and getting touches on balls."
Solid defense and an opportunistic offense helped United make the extra effort to get three points -- and in the process move to the top of the Eastern Conference.
"We put Troy under too much stress," Soehn said. "But he came up time and time again and made the saves."
Thomas Foote is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
