D.C. United and the Colorado Rapids had to wait out a summer thunderstorm that rumbled over the nation's capital with several bolts of lightning on a muggy Thursday night, but it was United's second-half performance that provided the real late show as three goals in the final 20 minutes sent the Mile High Club home empty-handed.
With four changes from last week's starting XI in Salt Lake City, the new-look home side took their time getting adjusted and the Rapids took advantage with a well-constructed move that culminated with Jacob Peterson's 19th-minute header.
"Anytime you play new guys, regardless of them understanding the system, it takes a while to have the comfort level to play positive balls and I thought we were very conservative early," said United head coach Tom Soehn. "Especially the new guys in the lineup, they were playing backwards or sideways instead of taking a chance."
But a Christian Gomez penalty kick allowed D.C. to go into the halftime break level, and even a half-hour lightning delay could not derail a dramatically improved second-half performance.
"Yeah, obviously we knew we let that first half slip, but we were fortunate enough to go in with a 1-1 tie, and then we just came out firing - with a little motivation from Tommy," said defender Josh Gros. "We knew we had to play better."
United were better able to dictate the pace in the second 45 minutes, finding the feet of South American maestros Fred and Christian Gomez and building more coherent strings of possession. Gomez, who wore the captain's armband for the first time in his D.C. career, capped another fine performance by setting up Luciano Emilio for his fifth goal in United's last four games.
"At halftime we just talked about keeping the ball," said right winger Justin Moose, who played a full 90 minutes for the first time this season. "They left a lot of space and we didn't really expose it in the first half. Second half, we were able to get the ball down and our playmakers were able to make some plays that turned into goals."
Guy Roland-Kpene's early hamstring injury handed Nicholas Addlery an extended run in the side, and the Jamaican target man's substantial physical presence wore down the Colorado back line as the game wore on.
"It's tough," said Addlery, who was handed the unusual role of a 12th-minute substitute. "Guy got injured but when opportunity knocks, you've got to answer."
He connected with Fred's corner kick delivery to net his first MLS goal in the 71st minute, then returned the favor by setting up the Brazilian's debut tally 11 minutes later.
"We were getting in good spots and playing how we usually play, so that's how things opened up a lot more," said Addlery of his team's second-half revival. "Plus they were getting tired - I don't think there's humidity in Colorado."
Another bright spot for the Black-and-Red was Fred's promising display on the left flank. He has struggled at times in his transition to a wing role after the central position he enjoyed with his previous club, Melbourne Victory, but on this night Soehn paid tribute to his inventiveness and adaptability.
"He has made a lot of strides," said the D.C. boss. "He is definitely energetic going forward. He's got great ideas. He's getting in [behind the defense] - we don't always reward him with that. As we now stretch the flank and he understands how to play the flank position, he's pretty valuable to us. We understand him better and he understands us better."
The Brazilian was elated to finally open his United account after several weeks of near-misses, though he admitted that his goal-scoring celebration was somewhat hindered by the caution he received after pulling up his jersey to reveal a "JESUS LOVES YOU" message underneath.
"I needed to score a goal, and now I'm very happy," he said afterwards. "Every time I score a goal, I always have a message on my jersey - in Australia I used to do it. But I'm not going to do it anymore because I'm not going to get another yellow card!"
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
