A three-goal blitz within five minutes in the second half -- one from Devon McTavish and two from Luciano Emilio -- sent D.C. United on their way to a 5-0 victory in the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions' Cup quarterfinal against Jamaican side Harbour View FC and a 6-1 victory on aggregate.
McTavish, who scored United's goal in the 1-1 draw in Kingston a week ago, rose up to put United into the lead before the break, then doubled his personal tally in between strikes from Emilio, last year's MLS Golden Boot winner whose season began with a rich run of form in the Champions' Cup. Brazilian Fred finished off the tie with a late goal.
United head coach Tom Soehn made just one change -- an injury-enforced change -- from last week's starting lineup, inserting Argentinean Franco Niell in place of the hamstrung Jaime Moreno. Visa problems prevented Harbour View starters Kemeel Wolfe and Rafiek Thomas from entering the United States, prompting head coach Lenworth Hyde to run out Christopher Harvey and Kavin Bryan in their stead.
Tempers flared early when United playmaker Marcelo Gallardo was sent crashing to the turf by Richard Edwards' crude aerial challenge near midfield, earning the Jamaican a shove from Fred and a quick booking from referee German Arredondo.
Ten minutes in, Gallardo saw Emilio's canny movement towards the back post and lofted a delicate ball into his path, but HVFC goalkeeper Dwayne Miller raced off his line quickly enough to disrupt the Brazilian, whose chip floated just high of the crossbar and settled harmlessly into the roof of the netting.
Harbour View set a high back line in the early going and United looked to capitalize with quick through balls and long passes over the top, but the ball seemed to lose pace on RFK's lush turf while on two other occasions poor first touches from Fred and Emilio allowed promising situations to pass by the wayside.
Niell's work rate and quick touches were bedeviling tall center back Donald Stewart, who had to foul the diminutive frontrunner several times and eventually led to a caution for the big Jamaican.
In the 26th minute, Gallardo took advantage of one such occasion to deliver an inswinging free kick from the left touchline, and as the ball bounced past a tangle of falling bodies at the penalty spot United right winger McTavish found himself all alone with only Miller to beat. The Winchester, Va. native calmly buried the chance with a side-footed finish and wheeled away to celebrate his second goal in as many games -- a shocking statistic given that the utility man had never scored for United before last week and had only taken eight shots in his MLS career.
Marc Burch cut in from the left in the 33rd minute, and rode a challenge before steadying himself to chip a teasing ball over the defense and into the box for McTavish, who was knocked down by Miller as the netminder stormed out to get just enough of his fist on the ball to clear the danger. The Harbour View 'keeper immediately went down in a heap and received medical treatment before play was resumed.
Gallardo was bossing the game from his central midfield spot, and he showed some nimble footwork amidst a crowd of gold jerseys at the top of the Harbour View penalty box to set up a promising set piece as the half wound down.
The former French Ligue 1 player of the year saw his first free kick effort blocked by the Jamaicans' wall, but the rebound floated back to him and he swiveled to hammer a side volley that was headed for the back of the net -- only to be denied by an excellent fingertip save from the sprawling Miller.
Harbour View began the second half with renewed purpose, pressuring the home side more aggressively and stringing together crisper passing sequences when they gained possession. The rally pushed United back on their heels and Wells had to make his first legitimate save of the game in the 55th minute, dropping low to his left to gobble up a goalbound header from Fabian Taylor.
Jermaine Hue, tonight given license to roam the center of the park for HVFC, then sent two long-distance drives at Wells' goal, though only the latter required a save.
Just as United's prodigal son Santino Quaranta was preparing to enter the match for his first appearance since being resigned by the club that drafted him as a 16-year-old, Fred exchanged passes with Emilio before setting up his countryman with a nifty back heel that allowed the 2007 MLS MVP to bury the ball into an empty net to double D.C.'s lead in the 63rd minute.
That tally blew the match wide open, as the rattled visitors then conceded two more goals in rapid succession to turn the contest into a rout. First Fred released Quaranta into acres of space in the penalty box, and though the Baltimore native saw his low shot well saved by Miller, the rebound sat up perfectly for Emilio to nod home for his second goal of the evening.
Moments later Quaranta got behind the defense again before slotting a low centering pass into McTavish's path, and the West Virginia University graduate poked home his second goal to run the score to 4-0.
Taylor came close to salvaging a bit of pride for his side in the 76th minute, adeptly settling a right-wing cross at the top of the D.C. box before slapping a left-footer over the crossbar.
But the night's scoring was not over yet. As time wound down, Fred timed his run to beat the Harbour View offsides trap and advanced at Miller before rolling a cool finish under the big netminder for a 5-0 final.
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
