U.S. Open Cup Play-In: D.C. United 2, FC Dallas 0
Inconvenient as it was for D.C. United to begin the defense of its 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title with a preliminary round play-in match, it afforded the team an opportunity.
Still being early in the season, it was a chance to get playing time for the as yet underutilized portion of the D.C. roster. By doing so, United could show proof of its much-touted depth.
D.C. did exactly that in a dominant 2-0 victory over FC Dallas highlighted by first goals of the season for both a veteran, Fred, who hadn’t yet gotten his feet under him, and a rookie, Brandon Barklage, making his first MLS start in the critical role of attacking midfielder.
“For me it wasn’t really a chance to look at them because we see them every day,” said United head coach Tom Soehn. “ I’ve said from the beginning we have a deep team, and it was fun to get them on the field and let them show what they’re about and their character and the qualities of why we brought some of them here.”
Santino Quaranta, who came into the night with just over one half of action in United’s first five matches, started alongside Chris Pontius at forward and had a hand in both goals. In the 21st minute, he played a give-and-go with the rookie forward, who dribbled into the heart of the Dallas defense, slotting the ball through the back line to sprinting Fred, who beat goalkeeper Ray Burse low and left for his first goal of the season.
“I’m very happy, not only to score the goal but to play,” said the Brazilian, making just his second start of the year. “It’s been a while since I played, and I felt very good tonight.”
It was just 21 minutes into the second half, too, when Quaranta raced onto a long ball over the top, settled on the left side of the penalty box and pushed it centrally for Barklage, who also hit the lower left corner from 20 yards.
“Brandon consistently is one of the better shots on the team,” said Soehn. “I thought today he was very feisty in that spot. He covered a lot of ground. Late in the first half, he actually tried to do too much and kinda lost his shape. We talked about it, and he did a really good job in the second half.”
“I caught myself chasing the ball around the first half a little bit,” said Barklage. “I was a little bit antsy, and once I got reins on myself, I felt a lot better.”
After United defender Greg Janicki handled the ball in the box, Dallas squandered a chance to cut into the lead in the 88th minute when Kenny Cooper hit the left post with a penalty kick, sparing D.C. rookie goalkeeper Milos Kocic, who also made his first start.
With the win, United advanced to meet the winner of a match between New York and San Jose next week for the berth in the first round of the 2009 U.S. Open Cup.
