DC United Recap 10/23/2006

DC United 1 - 0 Red Bull New York

Ok, so this is a little late, but hangovers do that to people.

So a week ago the MLS regular season finished with United taking the short end of a 3-2 loss against the Chicago Fire. Having a week to prepare for the Red Bulls, everyone was talking about how the club looked like it had lost its form and it looked like it didn't have any motivation. After the first 10 minutes of the match on Saturday, I honestly feel that those questions were answered and put to bed.

I saw the original line-up go out there and play as they did in April, May and June. I saw United get the scrappy, 1-0 victory that they used all through the 14 game unbeaten streak to collect points as they marched up the MLS ladder. From Jaime fighting down near the penalty box just as the match started, to Freddy's wonderful service on the free kick, to Erpen's flick-on header off of that free kick. I saw the goods in that match on Saturday.

I also saw a club that is way different from what they were when the season began and that club in the Red Bulls. They looked much better than they did over the season. As their central core of the team returns with better players, I have a strong feeling that RBNY will be a force next season.

I was happy with the match, and from how the other playoff matches went, MLS still has alot of guess work to do as to where and when they will be holding their Conference Finals. United controlled the majority of the match and when they didn't, the Red Bulls never really scared me, even when they hit the post or when they had a through ball roll pass the goal mouth. Our defense showed better form Saturday, but they still have alot to work on. Get some good training in, improve on their performance and execute with better timing on Sunday and then they might be ready for whomever wins the other Semi-Final.

All in all, it was a good match, we got the 1-0 victory and the defense were able to pitch a shutout, something we had seemed to have forgotten how to do. Even though we backed into the playoffs, we won our first match, and are on our way to the Conference Finals. I for one cannot wait until this Sunday.