WASHINGTON — In many ways, it was a fairy-tale kind of ending to the season for D.C. United.
The adoring crowd, the club’s largest since April, turned out on a pleasant autumn night to celebrate the departure of a legend in Jaime Moreno. And the Bolivian striker didn't disappoint, scoring in his last appearance with the Black-and-Red off a well-earned penalty kick.
Moreno was released by ‘keeper Troy Perkins’ distribution in the 38th minute and found himself one-on-one with Julian de Guzman before tricking Toronto FC’s Designated Player into committing a handball.
“Classy
stuff on the PK, hitting it into a hand,” United interim head
coach Olsen
noted. “People think, ‘Lucky.’ No. Not with him. He does that
stuff, he’s been
doing that stuff for years. Once again, it’s a beautiful ending
for him.”
The
PK goal was Moreno’s 133rd tally in MLS competition, pushing him
ahead of FC
Dallas striker Jeff Cunningham for the league’s all-time lead in
goals scored.
Cunningham has a chance to equal or surpass Moreno’s record on
Sunday against
the LA Galaxy in FCD’s last game of the season.
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But Saturday night, the player who gave 14 years to D.C. United and has
lead the club
to an MLS best four championships went out on top.
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“We’ve
seen this over and over and over,” Santino Quaranta said. “There’s nobody
like him, he
turns, he cuts – I was watching in the beginning and I was
forgetting to run
sometimes, because I was just watching. That’s the special thing
about him –
he’s the best. He’s
the best player I’ve ever played with.”
Quaranta
was not alone in heaping praise on the MLS original. After 15
years in the
league, Moreno has done enough to earn accolades from even
United’s opposition.
The
Reds could perhaps afford to be complimentary. They did, after
all, run out to
be 3-2 winners in the last game of the season for both clubs. It
was the first
time in franchise history that TFC finished the season with a win. And
the loss
added another bittersweet element to what was already a
bittersweet night for a
DC team losing a face of the franchise.
Moreno’s goal sent United into the
locker room at
halftime leading 2-1, but some canny work by Dwayne De Rosario
upstaged Moreno
as much as any opponent could have hoped to do. The TFC captain
scored two
goals for his hometown side.
But
this night transcended the score line. The Black-and-Red have long
been without
hope of a playoff spot. Olsen may not have been pleased with the
result Saturday night, much less a losing season for a team that has grown accustomed to success.
“It’s
important to put that aside tonight and appreciate Jaime,” Olsen
added. “Once
again, he saves a little bit of magic for the last night. Several
times, it
really looked like the Jaime that we all know and love, and has
treated us to
so many good memories.”
Saturday's season finale will be a bittersweet memory for United and their fans. A loss of
a legend, a
celebration of his achievements and a loss to put an end to a long season. True to form as the ultimate team player,
Moreno
maintained he would have traded his final goal for a victory.
“You
guys know me, I would’ve preferred to walk away with a win,” he
said.
“Unfortunately, we keep making mistakes, and we get punished.
That’s been just
our luck all year. It’s hard to explain the frustration that we
have. We fell
asleep two seconds and it was a score. So we don’t have a break. But
I’m pretty sure it’s going to be totally different next year.”
The idea of
“totally different”
doesn’t do justice to a United team that will go into next season
without their
captain and talisman.
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