Thursday, October 1, 2009

DC United win vs San Juan Jabloteh, 5-1

Last week I made a big mistake in reading too much into the results of a win against a weak opponent. Learning my lesson, let's just say that this match was a pleasure to watch. This is the second time this season United has scored five goals, and it looked like the boys were having fun out there.

Does that mean though that they will carry this momentum into the match Saturday against Chivas? Given recent history, probably not. But for now, let's just enjoy the moment.


1. Christian Gomez looked like an MVP last night. He scored two goals, but it was his run leading to the assist on the third goal that impressed me the most.

2. The energy of Chris Pontius and Rodney Wallace was a big part of our victory. I'm moving away from the idea that CP should be our starter on left wing and am solidly back on advocating him as a starting forward. Wallace also added two assists and looked great making overlapping runs throughout the match.

3. Sure it was a weak opponent, but Fred and Boyzzz Khumalo took advantage of opportunities when they were there. Each had a couple flubs also, but our two wingers combining for 3 goals is nice to see.

4. He didn't have to do much, but when called upon, Milos Kocic answered.


1. Danny Szetela played well as a second half sub in a holding midfield position. He actually broke up a couple Jabloteh attacks. I don't think he's really close to playing himself into a spot as a regular starter, but this was definitely an improvement.


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We're heading back to reality now though with a huge MUST-WIN match on Saturday against Chivas USA. I don't see any possible way for us to make the playoffs with a loss this weekend, so hopefully Tommy will have the boys ready to play. The Revolution loss to Dallas last night continues the theme of potential playoff teams losing to teams out of competition. It's nice to get that help, but we need to do this on our own. If things go right this weekend, we could find ourselves in fifth place. If things go wrong, well, season over.

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