D.C. United 1, Rapids 1
Major League Soccer couldn’t have been more excited to serve as the backdrop for the next chapter of a fairytale comeback Saturday, with Charlie Davies as the star.
Instead, referee Terry Vaughn hijacked the night and embarrassed MLS with two diabolical decisions in the span of six minutes, effectively overshadowing D.C. United’s 1-1 draw with Colorado and a disappointing night for Davies on multiple accounts.
By the time the final whistle sounded in front of 12,499 at RFK Stadium, the United forward’s premature departure before halftime with a tight hamstring was an afterthought next to the wild swings Vaughn sent the match into during the second half.
“I think he had a very bad night,” United head coach Ben Olsen said. “I’ve had very bad nights as a player. That’s about it.”
With United trailing by a goal in the 56th minute, D.C. United forward Joseph Ngwenya cut to his left inside the box and was sent tumbling when Rapids midfielder Jeff Larentowicz clattered into him and tangled legs without making a play on the ball.
“I think I got fouled, for sure, and I should’ve gotten a PK,” Ngwenya said.
With both players on the ground, Vaughn nonetheless signaled for play to continue, but the sequence may have been harder for him to forget than the players.
Only five minutes later, United midfielder Chris Pontius burst into the left side of the box and initiated contact with Kosuke Kimura, driving his shoulder into the Colorado defender and also ending up on the turf.
This time Vaughn pointed to the spot, where Pontius tied the game with blistering strike that unlike Vaughn’s decisions, left no room for questions.
“Out of all the calls, I think mine was the one where it could go either way,” Pontius said. “I’m not diving in that instance. There’s contact there, but I really don’t know what’s being called on Joe’s.”
The match was supposed to be an opportunity for Davies to prove he deserved to be back in the U.S. national team picture perhaps as soon as next month’s CONCACAF Gold Cup but served as evidence that the United forward wasn’t quite ready for a return to the international game – and that was before he limped off with an injury.
With U.S. head coach Bob Bradley watching from the owner’s box, Davies had a goal called back after he was offside, overhit his first touch on a through ball from Josh Wolff and struggled to exert the kind of influence that had led to his league-leading six goals through nine games. His night was over in 34th minute when he took a seat in the center circle, called for the trainer and was replaced by Santino Quaranta.
By then United (3-4-3) was in a familiar place, having giving up the opening goal for the sixth time this season via yet another set piece error. This time Jamie Smith’s free kick bounced off Dejan Jakovic’s back right into the path of Colorado defender Drew Moor, who gave Rapids (4-3-4) the lead in the 23rd minute.
D.C.’s task got even harder when Wolff followed Davies to the locker room with a groin strain in the 44th minutes. But with Quaranta, Ngwenya as Wolff’s replacement, and a stern halftime speech from Olsen, United tilted the match in its favor in the second half, enough to be disappointed in remaining winless (0-4-2) when it falls behind first despite extending its own unbeaten stretch to three games.
“He lit under fire under our [behind],” Pontius said. “He just came in here. It wasn’t good enough. We were lost. We were chasing. We weren’t good enough in our possession… I thought the second half was very good, and if we put two 45s like that together, I think we come out with a win in that game.”
