The Santino Quaranta storyline – last year’s captain fights to earn his place in the rotation – was all teed up, wasn’t it? But only for about 60 seconds, until Jamie Smith waltzed unmarked through the heart of the D.C. United defense to redirect Anthony Wallace’s cross over Pat Onstad’s head and under the crossbar.
“”There’s no question in my mind – there’s not one play that was more important than that one in the entire game,” United midfielder Dax McCarty said. “Five, 10 minutes after you score a goal, you want to keep good shape. You want to be compact. You don’t want to give them anything especially when you’re on the road. The way we defended from the forwards to the midfielders to the defenders on that one kickoff was just completely unacceptable and if we’re going to be a successful team in this league it’s got to be everybody holding their hands up and saying ‘you know what, I could have done something more on that play to prevent that goal.’ It’s all about accountability.”
The United lineup has certainly been makeshift for the last two weeks, especially in defense. But the need for D.C. to get healthy and get back on track grows more urgent by the day. And there’s no rest for the weary with Philadelphia coming to the Maryland SoccerPlex on for a U.S. Open Cup qualifier on Wednesday.
