Fire can make statement vs. United
With playoffs in sight, strong D.C. showing would resonate
D.C. UNITED v CHICAGO FIRE
RFK MEMORIAL STADIUM, Washington, D.C.
7:30 p.m. ET (HDNet; CSN-DC; CSN-Chi)
Oct. 13, 2007 (WEEK 28) / MLS Game #185
REFEREE: Kevin Stott. SAR (bench): George Gansner; JAR (opposite): Sean Hurd; 4th: Jozef Batko
MLS Career: 142 games; FC/gm: 26.8; Y/gm: 3.4; R: 38; pens: 32
Games involving United: P36 W21 L10 T5; FC/gm: 27.3; Y/gm: 3.7; R: 13; pens: 7
Games involving Fire: P22 W12 L5 T5; FC/gm: 30.8; Y/gm: 3.8; R: 3; pens: 6
INJURY REPORT: D.C. UNITED - OUT: FW Jamil Walker (Achilles rupture); GK Shawn Crowe (meniscus tear); QUESTIONABLE: MF Josh Gros (migraines); PROBABLE: MF Fred (groin strain) ... CHICAGO FIRE - OUT: DF Jeff Curtin (R groin strain); MF Justin Mapp (R ankle sprain); DF Osei Telesford (L groin strain); QUESTIONABLE: DF Ivan Guerrero (L ankle sprain); PROBABLE: DF Wilman Conde (R foot contusion)
SUSPENDED: DC: Bobby Boswell (through Oct. 14)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: DC: Brian Carroll, Bryan Namoff, Greg Vanney ... CHI: Calen Carr
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: DC: Josh Gros, Devon McTavish, Jaime Moreno, Ben Olsen ... CHI: Chris Armas, Chad Barrett, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, C.J. Brown, Diego Gutierrez, Dasan Robinson, Bakary Soumare
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: DC: Jaime Moreno (Bolivia; Oct. 14 v Uruguay; Oct. 17 v Colombia)
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (30 meetings): United 12 wins (0 shootout), 48 goals ... Fire 12 wins (0 shootout), 47 goals ... Ties 6
AT RFK STADIUM (14 meetings): United 9 wins (1 shootout), 29 goals ... Fire 4 wins (1 shootout), 19 goals ... Ties 2
• This is the third and final regular season meeting this season between the clubs, the second of two at RFK Stadium. United won the first meeting in the nation's capital, then the teams drew three weeks ago in Bridgeview.
• A year ago, the Fire won the season series, claiming two of the four meetings with one draw. The teams split their two meetings in Washington.
• The Fire's 3-2 victory at RFK Stadium in the season finale last year ended a four-game United home winning streak in the series in league play. The last Fire win at D.C. in the regular season had come April 24, 2004 - though, of course, there was the 4-0 win in the second leg of the 2005 Eastern Conference Semifinal Series.
• While the all-time league record is level between the clubs, the Fire have been dominant in cup competitions. The Fire have won four of the five games played between the teams in the MLS Cup Playoffs (with one draw), while winning the lone encounter in the U.S. Open Cup. The teams also played to a draw in their only match in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
• Coaches record: Tom Soehn vs. CHI: P2 W1 L0 D1 ... Juan Carlos Osorio v DC: P1 W0 L0 D1
2007 (MLS):
6/16: DC 3, CHI 1 (Dyachenko 6; Emilio 25, 51 - Monteiro 54)
9/23: CHI 1, DC 1 (Moreno 84; Barrett 18)
• D.C. United rolled to a 3-1 victory in the first meeting between the clubs this season, June 16 at RFK Stadium, in what was the last game in charge of the Fire for Dave Sarachan.
• In just the sixth minute, Fred drove in a low cross from the left that Fire 'keeper Matt Pickens was unable to control on the short hop, and Rod Dyachenko blasted it into the goal from almost on the line for the simplest of finishes for his first professional goal.
• In the 25th minute, Luciano Emilio was kept onside on a ball played over the Fire line by Christian Gomez, and as Pickens raced off his line, the Brazilian lobbed the ball over the 'keeper's head. Then just after the break, Emilio added to his haul, Pickens again spilling a shot from Gomez and Emilio bundling it over the line.
• The Fire pulled a goal back three minutes when a pass was filtered through for Jerson Monteiro, and the Angolan-born rookie finished inside the left-hand post for his first professional goal.
• On Sept. 23 at Toyota Park, the teams battled to a 1-1 draw. The Fire took the lead in the 18th minute when Cuauhtemoc Blanco lofted a terrific pass from his own half over the top for Chad Barrett to run onto, and the striker held off a United defender before stroking a low shot past Troy Perkins.
• But seven minutes before full-time, United pulled level. From well out on the right, Jaime Moreno hit a half-cross, half-shot that sailed toward the near post. Fire 'keeper Matt Pickens appeared to let it go - and it sailed into the goal under the crossbar for the equalizer.
• Here's Osorio's team (4-3-1-2): Matt Pickens - C.J. Brown, Wilman Conde, Diego Gutierrez, Dasan Robinson - Logan Pause, Chris Armas, Calen Carr (Bakary Soumare 72) - Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Chris Rolfe, Chad Barrett (Floyd Franks 81). Substitutes Not Used: Mike Banner, Jon Busch, Brian Plotkin, John Thorrington, Daniel Woolard
• Here's Soehn's team (4-4-2): Troy Perkins - Bryan Namoff (Clyde Simms 43), Bobby Boswell, Greg Vanney, Marc Burch - Domenic Mediate (Stephen deRoux 69), Brian Carroll (Nicholas Addlery 53), Devon McTavish, Joshua Gros - Jaime Moreno, Luciano Emilio. Substitutes Not Used: Rod Dyachenko, Jeff Carroll, Guy-Roland Kpene, Jay Nolly
D.C. UNITED
D.C. United maintained their long unbeaten streak in league play, coming back for a 1-1 draw with the Kansas City Wizards at Arrowhead Stadium last Friday evening. United still lead the MLS overall standings with 54 points and two matches to go, with the Supporters' Shield still within their sights for a second consecutive year, two points ahead of Chivas USA who also have two games left.
LAST MATCH
• D.C. United were returning to domestic wars riding an 11-game unbeaten league streak after falling at midweek to Chivas of Mexico in the Copa Sudamericana, while the Wizards had won just once in six games as they tried to make a return to the playoffs for the first time in three years.
• Just 36 seconds into the game, Christian Gomez forced a save out of Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman -- the 1,000th of his MLS career. Only two others -- Scott Garlick and Tony Meola -- have had more in their MLS careers.
• The Wizards opened the scoring in the 44th minute with another long-range goal. Eddie Johnson ran down a ball in the right corner, and after holding up, laid it back for Scott Sealy coming on from behind. The Trinidadian stroked a first-time shot low inside the left-hand post for his third goal in as many games.
• But Gomez had the final answer. Receiving a pass from left back Marc Burch with his back to goal in the 56th minute, he was able to turn defender Tyson Wahl and crack a quick blast inside the near post for his eighth goal on the year and keep United on track for the MLS Supporters' Shield.
• United head coach Tom Soehn made three changes to the team that came back for a 4-1 victory against Toronto FC the previous Saturday at RFK Stadium. Ben Olsen, Brian Carroll and Bryan Namoff all returned to the starting lineup in place of the injured Fred as well as Josh Gros and Guy-Roland Kpene.
• Here's Soehn's team (4-4-1-1): Troy Perkins - Bryan Namoff, Bobby Boswell, Greg Vanney, Marc Burch - Ben Olsen (Jaime Moreno 73), Clyde Simms (Domenic Mediate 61), Brian Carroll, Devon McTavish - Christian Gomez (Rod Dyachenko 80) - Luciano Emilio. Substitutes Not Used: Stephen deRoux, Guy-Roland Kpene, Justin Moose, Jay Nolly
• "Coming off five games in 14 days is tough, so we will take the draw. We will take this result after all the travel and being down a goal," United defender Greg Vanney. "With that being said I think in the first 25 minutes we had two or three great chances to get a goal, but [Kevin] Hartman came up big."
TEAM NEWS
• In addition to the difficulties of having the midweek trip to Mexico and the emotionally exhausting result, a resulting illness that traveled through the team made things that much for difficult for the Wizards match.
• "I didn't tell anybody but we had a lot of guys who have been sick. I don't know if it was something that we got in Mexico. There have been eight guys who've been sick," said Soehn. "We had to gut one out today."
• As many as eight players were laid low by the sickness, which led to some interesting lineup changes such as Devon McTavish in midfield and Christian Gomez as the second forward.
• "It's been tough, but it's going to help us in the long run," said United goalkeeper Troy Perkins. "We have trust in every guy on our roster," he said. "We trust them to do the same job as the guys in front of them. We're not worried about that."
• For Gomez, it was his eighth goal of the season, to go with nine assists, and kept him within striking distance of another "double-double" in goals and assists. A year ago he had 14 goals and 11 assists, and has scored in double-digits in goals the last two seasons.
• "I felt very good. I haven't played in that position in a long time since I played in Argentina," Gomez said. "But I like playing there because I'm closer to the goal. Hopefully, I keep playing there because like I said I'm closer to the goal and can give me more opportunities to score."
• Said Soehn: "Christian, I thought was very effective today. He was playing in a spot he's normally not accustomed to, up top. The goal he scored was pretty classy."
• United could win the Supporters' Shield this weekend if they defeat Chicago and Chivas USA lose one of the two games they have, away to FC Dallas and home to Colorado Rapids. United hold the tiebreaker over Chivas if the teams end the season tied.
• "We have two home games, and if we win out no one can catch us. We've got the tiebreaker on Chivas who's chasing us right now," Soehn said. We control our own destiny, and that's what you want as a team and as a coach."
CHICAGO FIRE
The Chicago Fire went a long way toward securing a playoff in the MLS Cup Playoffs, coming back for a 2-1 victory against the New England Revolution on Saturday evening at Toyota Park. The Fire have 36 points with two games remaining, four points ahead of ninth-place Colorado Rapids heading into the weekend.
LAST MATCH
• The Fire had seen their playoff drive stall a bit with four consecutive draws, while the Revolution had won four of their last six games.
• The visitors took the lead though midway through the first half. A Steve Ralston corner was knocked back out to him, and his second centering pass hit a defender and rolled out beyond the top of the area. Jeff Larentowicz came racing on and sent a rising piledriver inside the right post.
• But in stoppage time, the Fire drew level. Diego Gutierrez set off a counterattack on the left flank, sending Chad Barrett free. He cut across the area with an extended dribbling run before slipping the ball back to Chris Rolfe, who ripped a long-range shot of his own high into the goal for his sixth goal.
• Then on the hour, the Fire scored the winner. Paulo Wanchope ran onto a pass in the area and sent a low drive goalward that was parried by Revs 'keeper Matt Reis. But Chad Barrett came in to pound home the rebound and secure a vital three points for Chicago.
• Fire head coach Juan Carlos Osorio made one change to the team that drew 1-1 with Chivas USA the previous weekend at The Home Depot Center. Dasan Robinson came back into the team in place of Logan Pause.
• Here's Osorio's team (3-3-2-2): Matt Pickens - C.J. Brown, Wilman Conde, Gonzalo Segares - Dasan Robinson, Chris Armas, Diego Gutierrez - Chris Rolfe (Calen Carr 87), Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Chad Barrett (Bakary Soumare 66), Paulo Wanchope. Substitutes Not Used: Jon Busch, Floyd Franks, Bruno Menezes, John Thorrington, Daniel Woolard
TEAM NEWS
• With two games left to be played in the season, the Fire still sit in eighth place in the overall standings - but could secure a playoff spot this weekend. With a win against D.C. United, and if the Los Angeles Galaxy fail to defeat Toronto FC, the Men in Red will clinch a spot.
• "I think there is no way to hide the fact there is a lot of pressure; not only on us but on Columbus and the rest of the teams, like Kansas now. I kept telling the players it's about having the mental strength to deal with that pressure now that we, the three teams [Columbus, Colorado, Kansas City], playing with our backs to the wall that the strongest team will survive," Osorio said.
• Osorio watched the game from the suite level after he was sent off at the end of the Fire's match at Chivas USA the weekend before.
• "It was a great performance for us tonight. The first half I wasn't too happy because I think we lost of the ball quite easy. I had a few things to say at halftime but what makes me very happy is the reaction of the players in the second half," he said. "In the second half I think we totally dominated and I remember New England hitting the post once but we had the better play, and I think we scored when we were playing better than them. I think from then on we just controlled the game and the back five limited a great team to very few chances."
• The Fire also showed they could hold a lead late. They had played to draws in four consecutive games, seeing their opponents come back with late equalizers in the last three - in the 82nd (Chivas USA), 84th (D.C. United) and stoppage time (FC Dallas).
• "Obviously we've had a hard month in terms of not getting our three points. We've had good leads in games and we've sort of lost it at the end in terms of just getting a tie. But we've been playing with a lot of pressure and I think you saw tonight it didn't get to us and we went out and we know it was an important night as far as getting three points," said assistant coach Denis Hamlett, who was in charge of the team from the bench.
• After a loss on July 12, the Fire were in last place in the Eastern Conference. Since then, they've lost just twice in 11 games, winning four.
• "Being a goal down to one of the better teams, we just kept pushing and pushing and that's what this team has been about since the beginning, since we went to Toronto," Hamlett said. "We've been playing with our backs against the wall and these guys come out and fight, and you saw the result tonight."
• On Wednesday, the Fire took on Mexican side Cruz Azul in a friendly at Toyota Park, and a Jared Borgetti penalty kick proved the difference as Cruz Azul claimed a 1-0 victory.
• "The only positive is that it was 90 minutes of football for Calen Carr, Floyd [Franks], John Torrington, and Daniel Woolard. It gave them all a chance to display what they could do for us," said Osorio. "I think Floyd and Calen worked very hard and they probably deserved a goal between the two of them, but that's football. You have to score your chances. They had one chance and that was it."
• Here's Osorio's team on the night: Jon Busch; C.J. Brown (Gonzalo Segares 45), Daniel Woolard, Dasan Robinson (Logan Pause 45), Bruno Menezes, Bakary Soumare, Mike Banner, John Thorrington, Floyd Franks, Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Diego Gutierrez 45), Calen Carr
