For D.C. United fans, it would be difficult to choose a specific facet from this past weekend as the most enjoyable. For some it is D.C. United officially clinching a spot in the postseason after the 4-1 victory over the MetroStars. For others it's the game-winning goal from Ben Olsen, his first goal of the season. Others might say their favorite part of the weekend was Olsen's second goal, since it's the first time in his eight-year career that he's had a multi-goal game for United. Another good choice would be Jaime Moreno's beautiful goal in the final moments.
There are some who would say that the best part of the weekend was that New England lost, thus leaving the door open a little bit for United to take over first place. And for many if not all of the Argentinean fans, the crowning moment of the weekend must have been Christian Gomez serving his one-game suspension in the stands wearing the Argentina national team jersey and banging on a drum amidst the Screaming Eagles and Barra Brava. All in all, lot of things went right for United this weekend.
It may have taken a while, but D.C. United are finally playing with the confidence and enthusiasm that led them to the MLS Cup Championship last season. D.C. fell behind to the MetroStars this past weekend, but they didn't get frustrated, they didn't panic, and they didn't seem to ever doubt that they would win the game. The result was a total team effort, and with the playoffs just a few weeks away, the teams with the most weapons are always the more dangerous ones.
Olsen scored his first two goals of the season in the second half, and both goals came from beautiful assists. First, Jamil Walker whipped in a cross that curled away from Tony Meola and dipped perfectly onto the head of Olsen. His header put United in front for good, and the assist was the fifth of the year for Walker.
Half an hour later, Moreno made a run towards the top of the box and floated a feathery pass to Olsen, who nutmegged Meola for his second goal of the game. Moreno's assist was absolutely perfect. It was the type of assist that Marco Etcheverry made a career of, and after all the years of playing alongside "El Diablo" Moreno has picked up a thing or two.
Moreno, however, wasn't content with only the assist, so he went through the entire defense of the Metros and made the final score 4-1. When he collected the ball at the edge of the defensive third, the universe may have entered a time warp, because Moreno looked about 25 years old as he dribbled through three defenders and slotted the ball past Meola in Giants Stadium, just like he used to do back in the early days of MLS. Even though the outcome was probably already decided at that point, it was amazing to see the class that Moreno showed, and his 31-year old legs look more than ready for the playoffs.
D.C. United are flying higher than ever. Gomez's cameo at the Meadowlands shows not only that he is an ideal teammate, but also that he was so excited about the game and the team that he wanted to be a part of it in any way he could. His appearance speaks volumes about the focus and attitude of the team. United's winning streak has reached three in a row and, if the club continues to enter matches as prepared as they were this past weekend, the fans can look forward to more weekends where everything has a happy ending.
Tony Limarzi is a contributor to dcunited.com. He is also the voice of D.C. United soccer, calling all of the Black-and-Red's games live on WMET.
