YouthCollegeAdultPro

Moreno leads United to Open Cup semifinals over Fire

8 Jul, 2008

By Chris Hummer, Potomac Soccer Wire Editor

D.C. United finally beat the Chicago Fire in the knock-out phase of a major competition tonight at the cozy Maryland SoccerPlex northwest of downtown Washington. It took overtime however, as the teams traded goals on either side of halftime before Defender Brian Namoff headed home a perfect Jamie Moreno corner kick nine minutes into the first of two mandated 15-minute overtime periods.

With the win, United advanced to the semifinal round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and will face a familiar foe in the New England Revolution on August 12th at RFK Stadium. New England narrowly escaped elimination in Connecticut tonight by Baltimore's Crystal Palace FC USA, needing penalty kicks to snap a 1-1 draw during regulation and overtime. A Baltimore win would have set up a dream match at RFK for the USL-2 team in just their second season of existence.

In Maryland, the DCU v Fire match started with United dominating possession, but lacking any creativity or aggressiveness in the final third. Without much bite to the United attack, Chicago realized they might not have to play long ball to Chad Barrett all night, and began playing more possession themselves. The switch immediately generated more sustained pressure on United's back four of Brian Namoff, Devon McTavish, Marc Burch, and Gonzalo Martinez.

In the 21st minute, Mike Banner, a local product with the Fire for a second year from Gonzaga College High School, broke through on the left side of the box, but Jay Nolly was quick off his line making one of his best saves of the season to keep things even, for the time being anyway. But it was not the last time Banner's quick feet and silky moves would give United trouble.

With play moving back and forth more rapidly, Chicago continued to cause trouble, forcing a formation adjustment by United coach Tom Soehn. The Black and Red had started the match in a 4-5-1 formation with Emilio the lone forward, but with two rookie wingers in Ryan Cordeiro and Pat Carroll unable to force the issue down the flank or get any quality balls to their Brazilian superstar, Soehn moved Cordiero up top and Fred to the left side in a more familiar 4-4-2, while moving Fred wide to avoid the clogged midfield.

The adjustment generated more attack for the home team, but did little to keep Chicago at bay. In the 36th minute, Chicago's Daniel Woolard won the ball from Namoff and chipped a stranded Jay Nolly from 22 yards for the easy go-ahead goal. Nolly was caught badly out of position, but his was not the only mistake on the goal.

“There were mistakes all over the place and they capitalized on it,” said Soehn after the match when questioned about the goal and Chicago's dominance in the first half.

Rather than using the goal as a wake-up call, United seemed to go into shock and nearly conceded minutes later. In the 39th minute, Chad Barrett dispossessed a dribbling Gonzalo Martinez near midfield and sent a perfect long ball behind the United back line to a charging Chris Rolfe. The speedy forward/midfielder should have finished his gift, but Nolly's swift charge was just enough to force the shot barely wide right.

Disaster was avoided and half-time could not come soon enough. Other than the first ten minutes, United just seemed asleep at the wheel, going through the familiar paces of maintaining possession, but with no one willing to really take control of the attack. Half-time gave Soehn a chance to reorganize and the second year coach did not waste his chance.

Cordeiro and Carroll were replaced by Liberian forward Francis Doe and new signing Craig Thompson. Both would prove to be tremendous upgrades on the night, adding more pace and playing with more determination and willingness to attack rather than simply play it safe.

The United substitutions weren’t the only change in the game as the 2nd half got underway. The passion and desire to win finally began to show through when, just three minutes in, the active Burch drew the first of what would be many more cautions from referee Shane Moody on the night when he was hacked down by Bakary Soumare. It wasn’t the harshest foul of the night, but Moody had seen a consistency in Soumare’s tackles so far and booked him for persistent infringement.

If the game’s first yellow wasn’t enough to crank everyone's emotions up a level, Francis Doe made sure everyone knew this game meant something when he charged in on a soft ball that Chicago net-minder John Busch had to come out of his box to clear. Either not realizing Busch was a lefty, or simply not caring, Doe ran in at full pace to try and block the coming clearance, missed the ball completely, and leveled Busch with an NFL quality body check that earned him a yellow after only seven minutes on the pitch.

Despite the new energy and bite to United's attack brought on by the adjustments, it was still Chicago with the best chances in the first fifteen minutes of the second half. Banner continued to impress, skinning Brian Namoff on the left side of the box and creating a fantastic angle for a right-footed blast from 14 yards. The shot wouldn’t come however, as the rookie winger passed on the chance, choosing to cut the ball back to his left instead, where he was closed down before getting a shot on net.

Just a minute later in the 56th, McTavish and Burch were split again from midfield and Barrett was in alone on Nolly with 30 yards to goal. But Nolly once again made up for his first half mistake by darting off his line and catching just enough of Barrett’s low bid to send the ball skyward and eventually out for a corner.

Something was still missing from United. Passes were missing targets or too soft. Turnovers in the middle third were playing right into Chicago’s bunker and counter approach, and despite a lot of work by forwards Luciano Emilio and Doe, United rarely got the ball at their feet and hadn’t seen a decent cross in a while. Third-year man Rod Dyachenko struggled for his second straight game filling in for Designated Player Marcelo Gallardo, and after 60 minutes of turning the ball over and drifting too wide, Soehn had had enough.

Enter Jamie Moreno, arguably the best player in the history of MLS, if not the history of professional soccer in the United States. It’s too bad this match wasn’t televised, but if the teams can be persuaded into making their game film available, the next thirty nine minutes of play would be all anyone ever needed to watch when trying to learn what exactly the term “Game Changer” means.

From Moreno’s first possession, United instantly became twice the team they had been to that point in the match. He was involved in keeping things alive before Doe slipped past his defender and almost found Emilio at the far post.

With Moreno playing box to box, and pulling the strings United's chances came in quick succession. Even when the Bolivian star wasn’t directly involved in the final chances on goal, he had a role at some point in the play leading up to the opportunity.

Said Soehn of his Bolivian star, “He has so much experience in holding the ball, and the flow got a lot better. The game changed dramatically when he came in.”

In the 73rd minute, Moreno took control again, chasing down a deflected Brian Namoff cross on the right side and taking on three defenders, drawing a foul just outside the box about 10 yards from the end line.

Then, in the 77th, Moreno's game changing quality paid the ultimate dividend. The very active Thompson won the ball near the right edge of the attacking third and played the ball to Moreno, who quickly penetrated down the right flank and placed a perfect ball on Doe’s left foot eight yards in front of goal. Doe made no mistake, simply redirecting the perfect service first touch past the helpless Busch sending the nearly 4,200 fans into a frenzy.

Moreno wasn’t done. Never more than 25 yards from the ball, he continued to direct the pace of the game, turning every United possession into an opportunity. In the 79th, he collected the ball from 30 yards on the left side, turned, and lashed a curling right foot past Busch that hit the far post, just inches from what would have been one of the most spectacular goals in his career.

The Fire were in big trouble and it was John Thorrington who lost his cool first. After Moreno left Thorrington in his wake about 45 yards from goal and was galloping into open space, the former Manchester United and Bayern Leverkusen reserve had had enough and viciously swept Moreno from behind with no chance of reaching the ball. The speed at which Moody showed yellow was no consolation to the fans or DC coaching staff as the foul was obviously deserving of an instant red.

After licking his wounds, Moreno remained in the game and got more than even in the coming minutes. First, with a payback swipe disguised expertly as an attempted clearance of a high ball, he caught Thorrington on the shin and instantly nodded to the referee in acknowledgment of the coming yellow. The second payback came in overtime, which was almost unnecessary, as Thompson nearly won the match in injury time off a great ball from McTavish, hitting the side netting from 12 yards.

Overtime saw the introduction of Chicago’s Mexican star Cuauhtemoc Blanco, but no changes for United. Moreno had told the coaches before the match that he had thirty minutes in him due to a sore hamstring, but would stick it out in overtime as long as he could. Knotted at 1-1, the game had been completely different since Moreno’s insertion, and one got the feeling that as long as he remained in the game, United would prevail.

Blanco turned the spotlight on himself immediately, but not with his famous soccer skills. He’s also famous for his mouth and foul play, and just a minute into overtime made the mistake of jawing at the referee after being caught clearly offside. United's sizable fan base immediately showed their displeasure and began taunting the Fire man at every opportunity.

Moreno would answer with class, as he  always does, in the 99th minute – a fitting time for the player who wears the number 99. After a corner attempt was well placed, but deflected out by Chicago for another, he deftly floated the next attempt into open space 10 yards from the near post, where a streaking Bryan Namoff scored the rarest of goals at the perfect time for the go-ahead goal, and eventual game-winner.

His contribution complete, Moreno jogged to the bench before the restart to inform Soehn he was done for the night as his hamstring had tightened too much. He stayed on while Gonzalo Peralta finished warming up and was subbed to a standing ovation.

“It was perfect for me [the goal], because after the corner I was going to ask for my substitution anyway,” said Moreno after the match. He claimed he didn’t re-injure anything, it was only that his hamstring was getting tight and he had put in more than his originally planned 30 minutes. When asked if he expected to play on Saturday in his team's Super Liga opener at RFK against CD Guadalajara, he responded, “Yes, definitely.”

While Moreno was finished, Blanco was not – at least, not yet. In the final minute of the first overtime stanza, Fred fouled Thorrington going up for a header, drawing his own yellow. Perhaps seeking to slow things down, Clyde Simms picked up the ball as the referee was entering Fred in this book. Blanco wanted the ball and punched it out of Clyde Simms’ arms with such force that the swing doubled as a body blow, clearly hurting Simms and incensing the United players. As Blanco collected the loose ball with his hands, Burch retaliated, and after a nearly bench-clearing scuffle, both Blanco and Burch were sent off.

The second overtime period, with only nine players a piece, was not what either team needed to put their players through in the middle of a long MLS season. The final fifteen minutes were dominated by cramping, gamesmanship, and no real threats on goal for either side until Martinez nearly sealed matters in the 113th after receiving a 50-yard cross-field ball from Fred, only to have Busch come off his line quickly and make a fantastic save.

The match ended shortly afterwards and left an exhausted United team clearly happy with the win, but completely drained.

The team now turns it’s attention to another tournament outside of MLS league play – the second running of the SuperLiga. The eight-team tournament, organized as a partnership between MLS and the Mexican League, kicks off this weekend, and features a $1 Million first prize. United earned entry by way of their best-in-league record in MLS last season and kicks off the dash for cash against CD Guadelajara at 8 PM Saturday at RFK, followed quickly by a match against Atlante. They will finish out group play Saturday the 19th against Houston.

« Back to full list of Adult

• Dec 09, 2008
• Dec 05, 2008
• Dec 02, 2008
• Nov 28, 2008
• Nov 25, 2008
• » more