No, it’s still not over yet. Even though D.C. United gave up goals in the first minute of each half en route to a 2-1 loss at Vancouver tonight, they’re not yet out of the playoff race.
But it sure feels like they should be.
42 seconds. 57 seconds. That’s what it took for Camilo to score after the opening whistle and for Long Tan to score in the second half, respectively, both off crosses from the left wing. If we’re keeping track, Marc Burch and Daniel Woolard were the respective D.C. defenders at fault for losing their marks. Yes, fixing the back line will be D.C. United’s top priority in the offseason.
Despite Santino Quaranta finding Brandon McDonald’s head to cut the deficit in half – and an uncalled handball in the box when Jeb Brovsky blocked Burch’s shot – United (9-11-11) never established any rhythm offensively playing without Dwayne De Rosario, who didn’t make the trip from Toronto, where he played on Tuesday night for the Canadian national team.
So, where does D.C. stand? The playoff standings are here. Technically, D.C. can still catch everyone in the East but conference-leading Philadelphia. At the absolute minimum, they need five points just to get even with the final playoff contenders, which means it’ll take six to get past them, and probably nine to actually secure a postseason berth, since every team in the East still has two games left.
In simpler terms: three games left, three wins needed.
If there’s one silver lining, the final stretch begins Saturday against Chicago, which all but eliminated itself from the playoffs on Wednesday with a 2-1 loss to FC Dallas in which Pavel Pardo got ejected and thus won’t make the trip to D.C., along with starting defenders Dan Gargan and Cory Gibbs, who each picked up yellow cards that earned them a suspension for Saturday.
If D.C. wins that game, Wednesday’s encounter with Portland, which is also just barely on the outside of the playoffs looking in, could be a winner-take-all scenario.
Highlights from BC Place:
