Game 25 - DC United 2:1 Real Salt Lake

I was as frustrated after this win as any loss of this season. My frustration manifested in a few ways. Frustration at the coaching staff for choosing to rest Fred at the start of the game. With Moreno out playing for Bolivia, we needed Fred in there for creativity and the threat he is to defenses. Without him, RSL could key on Gomez and severely limit DC's ability to attack. Second, I was frustrated with the lack of possession by DC in the first half. RSL was living in DC's third of the field. They were clearly the better team in the first half. Third, I was frustrated with the officiating. Having been at the game and having not watched it on replay, I know some of the calls I disagreed with would have been correct. The sheer volume and the devastating effect of them, was alarming. All three cards on Olsen, Fred, and Gomez were suspect. Especially Fred. It seemed the linesman was feeling slighted and took it out on Fred for dissent. Even the referee later told the linesman to cool it when he got heated a few minutes later. I can honestly say I got little pleasure out of this win. All I could think of on the way home was three of United's four starting midfielders would be unavailable at Chicago.

The Good:

• United took the full three points on a night when things seemed to be going against them.
• Perkins makes a great save on the penalty.
• Emilio notches another

The Bad:

• Gomez tells Emilio to get lost then missed the penalty.
• All the yellow.

Grades:

Forwards (Kpene and Emilio) B

Emilio was very good again, but Kpene seemed to dribble himself into trouble. He had one speedy run which showed he is fully healthy, which is nice.

Midfielders (Gros, Gomez, Carroll, and Olsen) B-

An awful first half can be mostly blamed on this group. A better second half saved their grade.

Defenders (Boswell, McTavish, Burch, Namoff, and Perkins) B

No major complaints from this group. Tighter marking on Beckerman might have resulted in a clean sheet.

Substitutes (Fred and Simms) A-

Fred's excellent cross results in the go ahead goal. Simms came in and helped kill the game.

So United is now off for ten days. They will be severely short handed at Chicago, so that result is in serious doubt. If they can salvage a tie, they will be sitting on fifty points with four games to play. Chivas USA's recent form has caused me to up my estimate of the point total needed to win the Supporter's Shield from fifty-four to fifty-six. United therefore needs seven points from their final five games to reach that number.