When 11-year veteran Jaime Moreno began Thursday night’s game against New England on the bench, it was supposed to signal wholesale changes for a D.C. United team desperate to change its fortunes following its 0-3 start to the season.
But it was the ageless striker, who drew a penalty kick and converted it himself after being inserted into the game at halftime, that helped United earn its first points of the 2007 season, tying the Revolution, 1-1, in front of 12,908 at RFK Stadium.
Moreno said his reaction to being benched wouldn’t be appropriate in public.
“I don’t have nothing to prove,” said Moreno. “… I’m 33, and a lot of people knew and know me. I think other things right now aren’t really important. The important thing is D.C. United and that’s all we work for.”
United (0-3-1) started the game with Moreno and Brian Carroll on the sideline and in a 4-4-2 formation in place of the team’s usual 3-5-2 setup.
But after an impassioned first half of play, D.C. came out of halftime flat and fell behind 30 seconds later when Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph sent a looping ball over the top to Taylor Twellman, whose shot forced a great deflection from Troy Perkins but landed right at the feet of Andy Dorman.
Moreno tied the game in the 49th minute, and after Joseph was red carded in the 59th minute for a tackle on Ben Olsen, United pressured the rest of the way. Olsen had a header turned away by the crossbar and goalkeeper Matt Reis preserved the tie for the Revolution (2-1-2) with a fingertip save on a header from Luciano Emilio late in stoppage time.
“It’s still a good step forward for us,” said Olsen. “The heart was there, and you see what follows. When you win balls in certain areas and compete, and play like the shirt means something, that’s what happens.”
Just for kicks
» Jaime Moreno’s penalty kick was his 106th career goal, putting him two shy of all-time MLS leader Jason Kreis, who retired Thursday to become head coach at Real Salt Lake.
» United suffered one major injury when Brazilian midfielder Fred left the game in the second half with a groin injury. He’s likely to miss two-to-three weeks.
