DC United Victorious!
DC United has beaten the New England Revolution for the right to represent the MLS Eastern Conference in the MLS Cup. The game took place at RFK Stadium Saturday night in front of 20,000 plus fans. I was unable to attend, but Fox Sport World broadcasted the game live. This was one of the most entertaining games of the entire season.
>From the opening minute, the game was action packed. The Rev's Shalrie Joseph recieved a Yellow Card in the first minute! Bascially, he went spikes up into Jaime Moreno stomach. It was a very nasty tackle.
image courtesy of mlsnet.com
The next ten minutes overflowed with intensity. Alecko Eskandarian opened the scoring in the 11th minute on a great through ball from Ben Olsen. RFK went nuts. They were only silenced by the Revs Taylor Twellman. He scored their first goal in the 17th mintue. In the 21st minute, Jaime Moreno caught Revolution goalkeeper, Matt Reis, cheating off his line for a cross. He easily swung the ball nearpost for United to take the lead a second time. The La Norte fan section relished hurling toliet paper into Reis' six yard box. The first half ended with lots of open play. To the dismay of the United faithful, a pentalty kick was awarded to the Revolution in the 44th minute. Brian Carroll clearly commited a handball foul in the box. Steve Ralston calmly put the ball into the back of the net.
image courtesy of mlsnet.com
The second half began with the same intensity of the first. The game was so wide open. In the 67th minute, Earnie Stewart sent a perfect cross onto the head of Christian Gomez. Gomez left Reis on his backfoot and placed the ball to the right corner. United had the lead for the third time.
image courtesy of mlsnet.com
United began to play a more defensive role. The game really heated up and tempers began to flare. Cards were being handed out left and right. To the dismay of the home crowd, Pat Noonan was left open for an easy goal in the 85th minute. The game was destined for overtime play.
Both teams had excellent chances throughout the two fifteen minute overtime sessions. With the score still tied, the game was to be decided by penalty kicks. The first round saw no goals as Ben Olsen's weak shot was saved, and Steve Ralston hit the crossbar. The next two rounds produced goals from Quaranta and Adu for DC. Reis and Twellman scored for New England. In the fourth round Alecko Eskandarian scored, but Jay Heaps attempt at goal was stopped by Rimando. Moreno limped to the penalty spot with one thing in mind, score a goal for the win. His poorly struct shot was easily saved by Reis. You have to question Peter Nowak's decision to let an injured Moreno take the shot. Shalrie Joseph cooley converted the next PK for New England.
The entire season came down to this, sudden death penalty kicks. The excitement was unbearable. Brian Carroll gave United the lead with the first PK. Clint Dempsey attempted to answer for the Revolution, but his shot was low. Nick Rimando stretched to his left for the save. It was all over. DC United had won the Eastern Conference! I was jumping around my living room for joy!
image courtesy of mlsnet.com
The entire United team ran into the far corner to celebrate. They had reached the MLS Cup for the first time since 1999. They are set to face the Kansas City Wizards in Carson, California next Sunday. The game will be live ABC. I am really pumped to watch the game. Hopefully, the Boys in Black can pull out another gutsy game. They will be the underdogs, but that hasn't stopped this fiesty team all year.
