With a hard-won 1-0 series lead under their belt, a history of dominance over their opponents and the passionate support of 21,455 fans at their RFK Stadium home, D.C. United held all the cards entering their second-leg conference semifinal match against the New York Red Bulls.
Once the opening whistle blew on Sunday evening, however, the 2006 Supporters' Shield winners produced a nervous and uninspired performance, ceding the advantage to their Atlantic Cup rivals and surrendering a crucial late goal that would have sent the series to a nerve-wracking 30-minute overtime period - only to be bailed out by another breathtaking moment of magic from Christian Gomez.
United's 2006 Most Valuable Player got onto the end of a Josh Gros pass just four minutes from time, stabbing a short-range finish past Jon Conway to cancel out Josimer Altidore's 70th-minute opener and push the Black-and-Red into the Eastern Conference Championship thanks to a 2-1 goal aggregate.
"Obviously, we did not play well at all," said Gomez. "You guys saw that tonight. I think New York played better than us tonight - we were fortunate to get the tying point. We're not happy with the way we played. It's going to be much tougher next week, but we're up to the challenge."
The series-winning sequence began when second-half substitute Matias Donnet gave Gomez a break from his usual set piece duties after New York conceded a corner kick.
"I saw Christian, he seemed a little tired and I was closer to the ball," said Donnet, when asked about the play. "So I decided to go and take it. When we train during the week, I take the corners as well as he does, so it was just part of the game."
When Donnet's outswinger was cleared to Gros, Gomez floated away from his marker and called off Bobby Boswell to convert the cross and rescue United in the nick of time.
"I don't really know who crossed the ball," admitted the Argentinian afterward. "All I know is that I yelled to Bobby to let the ball go through, and I settled it and the only angle I had was to shoot where I shot. Fortunately for me the ball went in."
D.C. will play host to New England next Sunday in a reprise of the dramatic 2004 Eastern Conference final that is widely considered one of the most thrilling matches in MLS history, with a berth in the MLS Cup Final on the line. But given tonight's disappointing outing, even Peter Nowak admitted that his squad hardly deserves to be favored against the Revolution.
"Maybe it's a good thing to go into the conference final as an underdog because we didn't play the way we wanted to play," said the D.C. head coach.
United entered Sunday with a 5-1 all-time playoff record against New York. But on this occasion they showed little of the intensity and attacking menace they normally display at RFK, allowing the Red Bulls to press forward constantly and outshoot the home side 13-6.
Altidore gave the D.C. defense fits all night, glancing a low shot off Troy Perkins' right post in the 61st minute before beating the United netminder with a thumping header nine minutes later.
United's postgame locker room was tinged with a strange mixture of frustration and relief after holding off New York's spirited challenge.
"We lost a couple games here at the end of the season, but we didn't play this bad," said Freddy Adu, who roamed the left wing against the Red Bulls. "But today it was just, you know, the playoffs - we dug in there, we kept fighting, and we kept scrapping away, because our passes weren't as crisp as they used to be. We just kept chipping away and we were able to win [the series]."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
