Eastern Conference teams separated by nine points
A full three months removed from its diabolical 2008 start, with two wins this week and a couple fortunate results elsewhere in Major League Soccer, D.C. United could actually find itself in first place in the Eastern Conference.
By the same token, two losses could drop United (9-9-1, 28 points) back into a tie for last, showing just how volatile the standings are headed into the final third of the regular season.
“You worry about yourself, and these next two we said were really important, Chicago and New England,” said United head coach Tom Soehn. “We’re in the second half of that, but every conference game means a lot more than the others, but yet you have to win the others, the way the league’s going.”
Using a team consisting of mostly reserves, the Revolution (10-6-3, 33 points) were thumped by D.C., 3-1, in last week’s U.S. Open Cup semifinals, and then suffered an even worse 4-0 loss at San Jose on Saturday. But New England will be back to nearly full strength tonight. Starting goalkeeper Matt Reis — whose MLS-record of 7,975 consecutive minutes played was broken when he was sidelined by an abductor strain in the second half against the Earthquakes — is listed as questionable.
Newly-acquired goalkeeper Louis Crayton is the logical choice to again guard the net for United after shutting out the Fire last weekend in his MLS debut.
“It’s a little bit of an adjustment of where we move our line and how to play second balls and things like that,” said United defender Marc Burch. “He had a great game, and we were confident with him behind us.”
