Match Recap: DC United 1 - 0 LA Galaxy
Well, he played.
David Beckham did play. Considering the situation he came onto the field in the 71st minute, he didn't do badly. He had a very nicely placed free kick into the penalty box and he sent a great pass into Landon Donovan. It looked like his ankle held up. LA fans, give him four more matches and he should be alright.
Ok, now that he is out of the way, United went out and picked up alot more than just three more points. They were able to build on the Sunday shutout of New England without Gomez. They were able to collect a second straight clean sheet. The back four of Boswell, Namoff, McTavish & Burch looked very well, even when they had defensive breakdowns, they covered for each other. Troy looked amazing in the box, controlling the crosses and displaying pretty good judgment on when to come off his line.
United picked up a narrow, yet not so narrow 1 goal victory over the same club that has destroyed United at RFK in several of the last few matches. They also beat the team that they face next Tuesday in the SuperLiga Semi-Finals.
All of this greatness happened in front of 46,000+ spectators and in alot of rain at times, however, the finishing still needs to be worked on. The score could have very well been 4-0, but the last touch for several players in the black & red failed them. United was very lucky to get the one goal passed Cannon, as he was on fire for most of the evening. I would rather not see United be forced to rely on a 1 goal victory on Tuesday*. Granted that the Galaxy have a match in between tonight's match and Tuesday nights match, we should be the fresher side, I want to see better finishing.
I have one bone to pick and it is with Fred. Fred returned from his red card holiday and played pretty well...but he also on several occasions, stopped runs and started ball watching. He stopped runs right when guys would pass the ball where he would have been had he continued the run. These all became turnovers. I am really trying to figure out why Fred has turned into a ball watcher as of late. If he would cut his site seeing times in half, he would be in so many more positions to create chances. Instead, he effectively turned the ball over by stopping his run and watching the play.
Over all, I was happy with the team composure and the team effort. United kept trying to crack the Galaxy defense and with one strong kick from Emillio, they broke through with the 1 goal that was needed. If United was the type of club that can score in the 12th minute then run the entire match into the ground for about 80 or so minutes like Chelsea can, then 1 goal a game would be fine. We all know that United haven't been able to do that very often, infact counting SuperLiga matches, United has only posted three 1-0 victories this season. They have also lost 1 1-0 lead, so I am still not that convinced that they can do it.
Anyways, United are now in second in the East, with a match in hand over Kansas City. Next up is an away match at LA (SuperLiga) then an away match at Columbus. United finish August at home to RBNY then away at BMO Field to take on Toronto FC. Hopefully the defensive trend of clean sheets carries the club to several more points over these next matches.
* - Edit. I thought that the SuperLiga match was on Tuesday. It is actually on Wednesday.
David Beckham did play. Considering the situation he came onto the field in the 71st minute, he didn't do badly. He had a very nicely placed free kick into the penalty box and he sent a great pass into Landon Donovan. It looked like his ankle held up. LA fans, give him four more matches and he should be alright.
Ok, now that he is out of the way, United went out and picked up alot more than just three more points. They were able to build on the Sunday shutout of New England without Gomez. They were able to collect a second straight clean sheet. The back four of Boswell, Namoff, McTavish & Burch looked very well, even when they had defensive breakdowns, they covered for each other. Troy looked amazing in the box, controlling the crosses and displaying pretty good judgment on when to come off his line.
United picked up a narrow, yet not so narrow 1 goal victory over the same club that has destroyed United at RFK in several of the last few matches. They also beat the team that they face next Tuesday in the SuperLiga Semi-Finals.
All of this greatness happened in front of 46,000+ spectators and in alot of rain at times, however, the finishing still needs to be worked on. The score could have very well been 4-0, but the last touch for several players in the black & red failed them. United was very lucky to get the one goal passed Cannon, as he was on fire for most of the evening. I would rather not see United be forced to rely on a 1 goal victory on Tuesday*. Granted that the Galaxy have a match in between tonight's match and Tuesday nights match, we should be the fresher side, I want to see better finishing.
I have one bone to pick and it is with Fred. Fred returned from his red card holiday and played pretty well...but he also on several occasions, stopped runs and started ball watching. He stopped runs right when guys would pass the ball where he would have been had he continued the run. These all became turnovers. I am really trying to figure out why Fred has turned into a ball watcher as of late. If he would cut his site seeing times in half, he would be in so many more positions to create chances. Instead, he effectively turned the ball over by stopping his run and watching the play.
Over all, I was happy with the team composure and the team effort. United kept trying to crack the Galaxy defense and with one strong kick from Emillio, they broke through with the 1 goal that was needed. If United was the type of club that can score in the 12th minute then run the entire match into the ground for about 80 or so minutes like Chelsea can, then 1 goal a game would be fine. We all know that United haven't been able to do that very often, infact counting SuperLiga matches, United has only posted three 1-0 victories this season. They have also lost 1 1-0 lead, so I am still not that convinced that they can do it.
Anyways, United are now in second in the East, with a match in hand over Kansas City. Next up is an away match at LA (SuperLiga) then an away match at Columbus. United finish August at home to RBNY then away at BMO Field to take on Toronto FC. Hopefully the defensive trend of clean sheets carries the club to several more points over these next matches.
* - Edit. I thought that the SuperLiga match was on Tuesday. It is actually on Wednesday.
posted by Brian at 9:28 PM
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