Despite a pulsating comeback over the final 20 minutes that pulled them level on the night, D.C. United saw their championship dreams dashed at RFK Stadium on Thursday night, playing to a 2-2 draw with the Chicago Fire that left them eliminated from their Eastern Conference Semifinal Series 3-2 on aggregate.
Goals two minutes apart from Chad Barrett and Chris Rolfe in the first half left United with a mountain to climb. But Clyde Simms and Christian Gomez scored five minutes apart in the second half that left the teams tied on the night. Gomez then appeared to have scored a dramatic goal that would have sent it into extra time, but saw it ruled out for a foul.
It was the second consecutive season that United, as winners of the Supporters' Shield, emblematic of the best record in the regular season, crashed out before the MLS Cup Final. It also guaranteed a fourth consecutive year in the MLS Cup Playoffs where a No. 4 seed knocked off a No. 1 seed.
United came out with immediate energy as Gomez, Luciano Emilio and Fred combined down the left to open up space for Emilio to curl in a left-footed shot from the top of the Chicago 18-yard box. But the MLS Golden Boot winner leaned back in his windup and the effort floated lazily into the gloves of Fire netminder Matt Pickens.
But six minutes in, Cuauhtemoc Blanco gave the goal-chasing home side something to think about at the other end with a quick shot that whizzed just high of the crossbar and nestled into the roof of the netting.
Chris Armas knocked Moreno to the turf some 25 yards out from Pickens' net a minute later, setting up a free kick that Gomez clipped around the Fire wall but wide of the right post.
United earned another promising set piece when Dasan Robinson's haphazard kick caught Fred in the midsection along the left channel. Gomez served up a teasing inswinger that flew across the face of goal and inches wide of the far post untouched, but the flag had already gone up for offside on D.C.
The visitors threatened on two occasions leading up to the half-hour mark, with Rolfe at the center of both plays. First the shifty frontrunner was fouled, allowing Blanco to blast a free kick on target that Perkins had to smother carefully with a mass of bodies in front of him. Then Rolfe raced in behind the D.C. defense to meet a bouncing through ball near the outer corner of the penalty area, lifting a first-time chip just wide of target with Perkins well off his line.
But the Black-and-Red did not heed the warning signs and were duly punished by Fire youngsters Barrett and Calen Carr in the 31st minute.
Spying Barrett's hard diagonal run into space behind Bobby Boswell, Carr hit an excellent angled ball that caught the United back line flat and gave his strike partner a simple task -- Barrett settled, then in the same stride cracked a sharp finish into the upper corner on the half-volley.
But before the shock of that disastrous development could fully sink in on the home fans, their woes were doubled mere seconds later.
Blanco's looping header caught the D.C. back line pushing forward out of their own box a split second too late, and as Boswell scrambled back towards his own goal with Barrett on his tail, he found himself out of position as the ball sat up perfectly for the late-arriving Rolfe to loft over Perkins' head and into the far upper corner of the net.
The play's strange buildup had the air of a fluke about it, but Rolfe's finish -- a quick, deadly flick with the outside of his right boot -- was pure class and no one in the stadium could deny its seismic significance. D.C. would have to net three goals to level the aggregate score, a difficult proposition given their inability to seriously test Pickens thus far.
Soehn acted quickly, yanking off Marc Burch to throw on an extra striker in the form of Rod Dyachenko while Boswell, Bryan Namoff and Greg Vanney shifted into a three-man back line.
United finally strung together one of their signature passing sequences in the 50th minute and it culminated with Olsen's lay-off for Emilio, but the Brazilian's snap left-footer was denied by a sensational fingertip save from a fully-extended Pickens.
Carr's speed was giving D.C. real problems and he almost drew a penalty in the 64th minute when he flew past Namoff and beat Perkins to a through ball right at the edge of the United box. The 'keeper's outstretched foot sent the lanky striker flying and Marrufo was quickly on the scene to award Perkins a yellow card and indicate a Chicago free kick just outside the area. Blanco saw his bid blocked by the wall.
Clyde Simms gave his team a precious ray of hope in the 69th minute when he ran up to Dyachenko's layoff -- no less than 25 yards out -- and drove a low, hard bullet past Pickens' outstretched paw and into the lower left corner to wake up the RFK faithful.
The goal revitalized the Black-and-Red and discomfited Chicago's bunkered lineup, restoring energy to the match -- and it was only minutes before one of United's heroes popped up to level matters as Gomez latched onto a perceptive pass from Dyachenko and delivered a shot that glanced off Pickens and dribbled into the net to level matters at 2-2.
RFK was in pandemonium now, literally shaking on its foundations as the crowd roared and the home team sniffed salvation. United took a stranglehold on possession and began raining crosses into the Fire box, searching for the elusive, spectacular series winner.
Chicago were firmly on the back foot now, left to lump the ball over the top for their strikers to chase -- but the limited approach nearly worked in the 77th when Carr skipped free again, only to venture too wide of the charging Perkins and miss the opportunity.
True to form, Gomez chased down another hopeful, bouncing ball into the Fire box to net what seemed to be the matchwinner. The plucky Argentinean muscled his way past Robinson as the ball caromed past the advancing Pickens, then calmly deposited the ball in the empty net. But Marrufo emphatically signaled for a Chicago free kick, disallowing the goal for what was apparently Gomez's illegal contact on Robinson.
The controversial call prompted waves of angry boos to wash down onto the field, but the visitors had been rescued and held firm - keyed by the rock-solid defending of Wilman Conde -- despite United's last, desperate flurry of crosses and corner kicks.
Dyachenko wasted one of the game's last opportunities just inside the Chicago box and caught Segares with a frustrated late lunge that drew a straight red card from Marrufo, and the relieved Fire flooded onto the field when he at last blew the final whistle to send the Supporters' Shield winners crashing out in the first round.
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
