Swoon continues for D.C. United
Black-and-Red face uphill battle to reach playoffs
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- Highlights: CHV 3, DC 0
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A lively throng of 28,145 fans -- D.C.'s second-largest home crowd of 2008 -- packed RFK Stadium, only to witness another hapless performance which pushes United's league winless skid to five games and leaves their playoff hopes twisting in the wind.
United started brightly, but a poorly-timed gaffe by goalkeeper Louis Crayton gifted Chivas an early lead as Alecko Eskandarian put one over on his former team after Dejair had dispossessed the Liberian netminder just inside the D.C. penalty box. The 35th-minute goal match stunned the home supporters and created a mountain that proved too high for the Black-and-Red to climb.
"I'm almost speechless -- and I'm never speechless," said a distraught Bryan Namoff afterwards. "I thought everyone really worked for one another tonight. You saw 11 players fighting, not only for their lives, but just for each other. It was a great effort, apart from little plays that I think you can count to bad luck. This has got to be rock bottom. Or at least we hope so. I hope the only way to go is up from here."
United were without key offensive cogs Jaime Moreno and Luciano Emilio, so Soehn built his squad around a five-man midfield setup intended to hand a leading role to playmaker Marcelo Gallardo, making his second start in three months due to sports hernia troubles. But cohesion was elusive as the Argentinean labored to build a rhythm with his teammates and Chivas' energetic midfield soon hauled itself into ascendancy.
"It was just one of those games where it seemed like everything was against us," said Santino Quaranta. "It was difficult. Sometimes I didn't know where to go, in some situations. We haven't played like that. When we were defending and Marcelo was playing, we were playing with three forwards and it was difficult to gauge. ... But again, it's down to us. It's down to individuals and we just weren't good enough in the end."
United have not defeated MLS opposition since Aug. 23 and the resulting shortage of self-belief has made victory remarkably elusive for a team that was built with trophies in mind. Midseason acquisition Crayton has been a notable exception to that crisis of confidence, so it was bitterly ironic for United fans to watch the brash 'keeper commit the grave error that dealt such a crushing blow to his team's psyche.
"I have no answer, really, for what's going on," said defender Gonzalo Martinez, who was quick to offer Crayton his support. "We began the game well, I thought. The first goal was a collective error and once they scored that goal, it gave them a lot more confidence and we weren't able to rebound from that."
But the disconsolate Crayton resolutely shouldered all blame in United's tomb-like locker room.
"I'm very sorry for what went wrong today," he said. "We came into this game prepared, mentally, morally, physically. We had a chance to redeem ourselves and I feel wholly and solely responsible for what went wrong today. I do apologize to my teammates, to the entire D.C. United family for this defeat. ... It was a terrible mistake."
Soon after his August arrival from Swiss club FC Basel, Crayton revealed a high level of comfort with the ball at his feet - and an accompanying penchant for risky ventures far off his line. With Dejair in hot pursuit of Gonzalo Peralta's back pass, he bypassed the easy option and was undone by a poor first touch that eventually led to Eskandarian's empty-net finish.
"Well, it was a tough ball from Peralta," said head coach Tom Soehn. "I thought he could've played him a little bit earlier. But when you see pressure coming on, there's one way to play that: you put the ball up the field and then you push the line up."
The night would get even worse for Soehn and his charges, as injury was piled atop insult: Fred was sidelined by a hamstring pull and Gallardo had to leave in the 71st minute with what is suspected to be a ligament strain in his left knee.
The loss of those influential South Americans would further complicate the heavy task facing their team: United must now travel to face conference leaders Houston and Columbus on either side of New England's Oct. 16 visit to RFK, with points urgently needed from all three matches.
"At no point are we hanging our heads and saying it can't be done, because it can be done," said Soehn. "We're disappointed today that we had a stadium full of people and we feel we let them down. And they didn't stop cheering until the end. But at no point is this team going to quit."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
