Karma felt like it turned on the Washington Redskins the moment they took the field on Sunday afternoon. It turned on D.C. United 40 minutes into their match, but the net result was the same.
And once it turned, there was no looking back. Yes, D.C. United once again had chances – such as Santino Quaranta’s clear miss in the first half or the bicycle kick by Chris Pontius that completed the game’s most beautiful sequence but was cleared off the line by Ramiro Corrales. But the lack of a killer finish is still yet to materialize, and the overthinking and questioning – which seemed to begin when United abandoned the 3-5-2 about a month ago – has reached a new level, not only among players, but coaches and the fans, too. The Barra Brava was pleading for Christian Gomez, and there were even some boos after the final whistle.
Ugh.
(And by the way, how bad was referee Baldomero Toledo and his crew? Questionable offside call on Ryan Johnson in the first half, Toledo blows his whistle in the middle of the play when Josh Wicks went down — the shot by Johnson, who had continued on the play, fell into the net — Toledo also gave Pontius a yellow on what didn’t look at all like a dive, and then blew his whistle for a DCU back pass in stoppage time on a ball that was clearly deflected. Can’t wait for U.S. Soccer to tackle this one.)
How’s this for a cross-section of quotes?
Tom Soehn: “We’ve put ourselves in a bad spot by slipping two home games here. We talked about this home stretch, but talk about it doesn’t mean nothing if you don’t finish through and get your points.”
Ben Olsen: “[The fans] pay their money to come here. They’re entitled to do whatever they want. If they want to boo us, we certainly didn’t deserve cheering.”
Quaranta: “We gotta find our chances. I don’t think I’ve ever crossed the ball that much. I must’ve had about 30 crosses today, honestly. To not score, it’s unfortunate, but what are you going to do. I don’t have any answers. I’m just trying to do my best.”
Jaime Moreno: “At this point, it’s got to be very personal. Everyone’s going to have to get his game together and see if we can pull it. We’ve done everything that’s possible, and it seems like it’s not working so I guess everyone just has to do his job see what happens.”
What do they do? Who’s to blame? The formation? The coach? The front office?
Until the game story is posted online, here it is:
One massive losing streak ended in Detroit. Another ended at RFK Stadium.
But San Jose did more than halt its 14-game stretch without a road win at the expense of D.C. United with a 2-1 victory in front of 14,375. The Earthquakes also handed United its second straight home defeat and dealt a massive blow to its MLS playoff hopes, leaving D.C. outside of a postseason berth with three games left in the regular season.
United (8-7-12) also faces the prospect of losing starting goalkeeper Josh Wicks, who left the game with a dislocated left shoulder and will have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test on Sunday.
“We came out flat in the second half on a day where – on any day you can’t afford it – but on a day when we’re trying to make the playoffs, it’s still disappointing,” said United head coach Tom Soehn. “I have to go back and evaluate whether I had the right blend of guys on the field.”
That was hardly the sentiment after a dominant start to the afternoon, which peaked when Jaime Moreno finished Chris Pontius’s cross in the 26th minute.
United still maintained its advantage when Wicks extended his arm to for a corner kick and came down lame despite no contact and immediately called to the sideline for medical attention.
Backup Milos Kocic took over in the net but wasn’t responsible for either San Jose goal.
First, the Earthquakes (5-12-7), who remain in last place in MLS’ Western Conference, tied the game with a 22-yard free kick perfectly-placed into the upper corner by Ramon Sanchez in the 58th minute.
United’s defense then opened the door in 73rd minute, when Marc Burch was stripped by Arturo Alvarez. Clyde Simms deflected Alvarez’s shot off the crossbar, but Ryan Johnson dove unmarked at the loose ball. Kocic had been in place for Alvarez’s shot but was too far off his line to reach back for Johnson’s header.
“It just wasn’t good enough,” said United midfielder Santino Quaranta. “It’s devastating this loss. From here, this is tough to get over this one.”
