D.C. United is still adjusting to the new formation instituted just last week — and the plethora of chances allowed to visiting Chivas USA on Sunday means there’s plenty of work left in an upcoming bye week.
But the spark may have returned at the offensive end. Both of D.C. United’s goals, scored in the second half of their 2-1 win in front of 14,267 at RFK Stadium gave hints of the attacking flair and passion that had been missing so far during the regular season.
“It wasn’t the type of play we were looking to do, but the fight was there,” said United midfielder Brian Carroll. “We really wanted to win, and we pulled it out. It wasn’t pretty, but we did it.”
United (1-3-1) took a lead for the first time this season three minutes after halftime when reigning league most valuable player Christian Gomez snuck around Chivas defender Paulo Nagamura to volley home past goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
“I was excited for Christian to get the goal,” said United head coach Tom Soehn, who also got his first regular season win as a coach. “I think he’s been a little frustrated and all it takes is something like a goal to get your confidence back.”
The game opened up significantly following Gomez’s goal and Jaime Moreno’s penalty kick doubled the score midway through the half, following Chivas defender Lawson Vaughn’s foul on United substitute Kasali Yinka Casal at the edge of the box. Moreno’s soft, right-footed chip shot floated straight down the middle as Guzan helplessly dove to his left.
“Spicy. Extra picante,” said United midfielder Ben Olsen, describing Moreno’s 107th career score, one short of Major League Soccer’s all-time lead. “He’s got about five or six of those. The guys always give him a hard time, saying ‘Use it in a game.’ Now they can’t say anything.”
Chivas (2-3-0) cut the deficit to one in the 73rd minute when Cuban forward Maykel Galindo turned the corner on a tiring Josh Gros. But the visitors got no closer thanks to sharp play from D.C. defender Bobby Boswell and six second-half saves by goalkeeper Troy Perkins, including tipping a shot by Ante Razov, forcing it to hit the crossbar, and a last minute save on a header by Francisco Mendoza.
United notes
» D.C. United’s win was its first in regular-season play since Sept. 23, 2006, a 4-3 win over New York.
» United rookie forward Guy-Roland Kpene made his first career start in place of Luciano Emilio. He picked up his first career assist on Gomez’s goal in the 48th minute.
» For the second straight game, United had four different players receive yellow cards.
