D.C. United sweated out some tense moments against the Kansas City Wizards at RFK Stadium on Saturday night, overcoming a Sasha Victorine penalty kick and several defensive breakdowns to grab a 2-1 win that vaulted them into top position in the Eastern Conference.
It wasn't always pretty, but with first place on the line, the Black-and-Red were quite content to take the spoils from a match that saw a number of clear chances go begging -- the most glaring example being Wizards striker Scott Sealy's empty-net miss in the 37th minute.
"We are very happy to get these three points and be in first place," said United boss Peter Nowak. "This is what the goal was before this game, and I think we achieved these three points and got the win, a very important win against a very good team."
In the absence of World Cup-bound midfield terrier Ben Olsen, the home side came out with Brian Carroll tasked to pick up the slack as the sole holding midfielder, with Freddy Adu also in the center, but getting more forward. The Wake Forest graduate handled the extra responsibility adeptly, distributing well from his deep-lying position and consistently providing an outlet for teammates under pressure.
"I had a little bit more ground to cover defensively, playing with only one defensive midfielder out there today," said Carroll. "So when the ball came to me I had to make sure that I kept it. Otherwise there's not another guy in there to just keep the ball, swing it around and make sure it gets from point A to point B. ... We didn't keep it enough, but we kept it enough to get the win."
D.C. got off to a dream start with Alecko Eskandarian's 12th-minute volley, a blinder of a shot set up by a precise diagonal ball from Christian Gomez. After failing to hit the net once during his injury-ravaged 2005 campaign, the New Jersey-born striker has now notched four goals in the first seven contests of this season and seems to have recaptured the scoring touch that helped pace his club to the 2004 MLS Cup championship.
But that early lead disappeared when Adu rashly impeded Ryan Pore in the United penalty area after a Wizards counterattack caught D.C. with numbers forward in the 16th minute. When Victorine slotted home the resulting penalty, Kansas City seemed to have wrestled the momentum over to their side, but Adu was bailed out seven minutes later when Eskandarian was bundled over by Matt Groenwald just inside the Wizards' box. Jaime Moreno converted the spot kick to give his side a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish.
"Big win for us," said Adu with a smile. "I was so happy we got that second goal, man. It was a tough game, a tough game all around. ... Unfortunately for me, I got in the box, I get caught, I almost go down so I pull the guy down. I was hoping Troy (Perkins) would save it, but most importantly, we won, and that's always the most important thing at the end of the day."
Though just in his second year as a professional, Pore showed veteran savvy to hit the turf immediately upon contact with Adu's outstretched arm, and the United phenom admitted that it was a tactic he himself has used before.
"Obviously," said Adu with a laugh, when asked if he was victimized on the play. "I do it to people, and they do it to me too. He did a good job, you've got to give credit where credit is due. He was able to get the PK, they were able to score and they were able to keep their team in the game a little bit longer. Whatever -- the game's over, time to move on, focus on next week and try to get a win at Columbus."
The second half unfolded as a cat-and-mouse game, as United probed for a third goal despite Kansas City's efforts to lure them forward and make space for counters. In the end, both sides failed to finish their chances adequately, but it was the Wizards who paid the price as they ran out of time to nab a second equalizer.
"Overall, it was a decent performance at the back," said D.C. center back Bobby Boswell. "The goal we gave up was when we were all pushed forward. ... We've got to watch video and make sure we don't let that happen again, but 2-1, we come away with the win, we're on top of the table. That's what we wanted at the beginning of the day, so we've got to take that at the end of the day."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
