D.C. United's hot streak finally hit the skids Saturday night, dropped by the one-two punch of Landon Donovan and late-summer fatigue as the Los Angeles Galaxy escaped RFK Stadium with a 3-2 victory.
With their exhausting August schedule finally asserting itself in lead-footedness all over the pitch, D.C.'s typical high-energy approach was nowhere to be found, leading a grave Peter Nowak to castigate himself afterwards.
"This was no D.C. United I know," said the second-year head coach, "and I'm going to blame myself because this is my job, to prepare this team, and I think tonight I did a bad job. L.A. didn't win the game tonight, we lost this game. Because we didn't fight, we didn't run, we were too predictable and not creative enough."
While United's attack lacked its normal incisiveness, there were also problems at the other end as all three of D.C.'s defenders made costly mistakes that led to Galaxy goals.
Bobby Boswell knocked a Cobi Jones cross into his own net to give L.A. an early lead, while Bryan Namoff's foul on Herculez Gomez at the edge of the penalty box gave Donovan the chance to bend a wicked free kick past Nick Rimando.
And though United fought back to level the score on a Jaime Moreno penalty kick, the Galaxy pushed forward from the ensuing kickoff and another Jones cross eluded Brandon Prideaux as Donovan stole in to head home the game winner.
"We looked tired," said Rimando. "But we still can't give those chances up. We can't foul at the edge of the box, we have to mark up better and we have to play better team defense."
Namoff scored his first-ever MLS goal off a Christian Gomez free kick to open D.C.'s account in the 37th minute, but his milestone night was marred in the dying moments as he received a second yellow card from referee Jair Marrufo for dissent after fouling L.A.'s Joseph Ngwenya.
A hoarse and barely audible Namoff expressed his frustrations about the decision afterwards.
"I'd like an official apology because there's no dissent at all," he said. "I'm talking to myself, I have a mouthpiece in, and I lost my voice 20 minutes before that. So how can you hear what I have to say?"
There was another controversial call in the 17th minute, disallowing a Jaime Moreno goal for offside, though the United captain seemed to have stayed level with defender Chris Albright.
"I didn't think I was off, but it was the linesman's decision, and I hope he was right," said Moreno. "Because if not ... who knows? But it's done now."
Striker Santino Quaranta spoke for many of his teammates when he expressed his eagerness to move on from a forgettable night.
"I felt terrible tonight. I don't know why," he said. "I prepared as well as I could, did everything right ... just unexplainable. It just wasn't a good night. I'm just glad it's over and behind us. We'll regroup."
United has three days to recover before Wednesday's much-anticipated U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal showdown with FC Dallas at the Maryland Soccerplex in suburban Germantown. Moreno and Rimando, however, face a particularly draining week as they first prepare to fly across the Atlantic to represent MLS against Real Madrid in the Trofeo Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.
"It's never going to be easy, as I've said to this team," said Nowak. "The schedule is as it is. We're going to play Wednesday against Dallas in the U.S. Open Cup and I expect that we're going to show what D.C. United is really about, because tonight I'm disappointed with myself. I think I failed the players. It's not good enough for anybody, starting with Nicky Rimando and finishing with Jamil Walker as the (last sub)."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
