Goals from Luciano Emilio and Christian Gomez once again led D.C. United, as they became the first team to clinch a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs with a wild 2-1 win Wednesday against Real Salt Lake at RFK Stadium that saw two penalty kicks saved -- one for each team.
Emilio hit for his league-leading 19th goal in the first half before Kyle Beckerman pulled the visitors level with a long-range strike. Then after the break, both Gomez and Alecko Eskandarian saw penalties saved as Gomez headed home a Fred cross for the game-winner.
D.C. head coach Tom Soehn once again rotated his starting lineup for the match, leaving Fred, Clyde Simms and Greg Vanney on the bench in favor of Guy-Roland Kpene, Brian Carroll and Bobby Boswell, while Ben Olsen wore the captain's armband with Jaime Moreno away on international duty.
On a night when he was honored by the club he called home for seven seasons -- including a pair of dramatic cup-winning goals -- Eddie Pope was held out of Real Salt Lake's starting lineup by head coach Jason Kreis, while Chris Brown was also preferred in attack to Robbie Findley.
Former United fan favorite Eskandarian nearly surprised D.C. goalkeeper Troy Perkins eight minutes in with a well-aimed blast from long distance, then a few minutes later, Perkins was looking uncharacteristically shaky as Eskandarian made space for another left-footed drive, this time from the top of the 18-yard box, and Perkins again couldn't get a clean handle on the ball.
Surprisingly, Real were more than holding their own in terms of possession and enterprise -- but after 16 minutes the visitors were stunned to find themselves behind due to yet another piece of deadly finishing by Emilio.
The play began with a slick passing sequence around the edges of the Salt Lake box, but seemed dead when Olsen shanked his shot from 18 yards out. But fortune favored D.C. as his effort wobbled right into the path of Christian Gomez, who reached the endline before arcing a high, curling cross over to the far post, where Emilio rose up above a throng of defenders and powered a firm header down past Nick Rimando to hand the Black-and-Red a scarcely deserved lead.
The goal clearly shook RSL's confidence. Shortly afterwards a mixup between Kyle Beckerman and Ritchie Kotschau allowed Emilio to latch onto a loose ball at the top of the Real box, forcing Kotschau to tug the Brazilian down, earning a yellow card for the professional foul. However Gomez could only drive the resulting free kick into the wall.
The teams' respective records -- and places in the standings -- are miles apart but the home side remained strangely subdued as the half wore on, and were finally punished for it after 32 minutes. When Beckerman took a feed from Chris Wingert, he found himself in a broad expanse of space on RFK's covered baseball infield some 35 yards out.
Beckerman quickly dribbled forward and when center back Bobby Boswell belatedly stepped up to challenge him, it only screened Perkins's view of the dreadlocked U.S. international's low, curling right-footer, which bulleted into the net to level matters at 1-1.
The equalizer got Real's tails up, and it showed when Beckerman outhustled Olsen to reach Emilio's flick near the RSL bench, initiating a move that led to Eskandarian's sharply angled -- and sharply hit -- drive that required a quick reaction save from Perkins.
Gomez came close to snatching his seventh goal of the season in first-half injury time after earning a dangerous set piece thanks to Matias Mantilla's two-footed lunge, but Nick Rimando was well-placed to punch his swerving free kick away from the upper corner and Gonzalez blew the halftime whistle seconds later.
Undoubtedly peeved with his team's display, Soehn took Kpene off at the break and threw Fred on in his place as United took on a more aggressive look, with Josh Gros pushing further up the left flank and Fred staying wide right as Olsen dropped centrally into a holding role.
Almost immediately, Gros made an impact at the attacking end. The rangy winger took possession and ran at Jean-Martial Kipre along the side of the Salt Lake penalty area -- and the young Ivorian rashly stretched his leg out to catch Gros just inches inside the box. Gonzalez was perfectly placed just a few yards away and the man in the middle did not hesitate, pointing to the penalty spot.
Moreno, D.C.'s normal penalty taker, was absent, so Gomez stepped up to take the spot kick. The Argentinian has proved himself deadly on free kicks all over the field, but he hit his penalty effort tamely to Rimando's left and the former D.C. netminder put his sharp reflexes to good use, extending well to smother the ball and keep the score level.
But the league's overall points leaders would respond. Another United set piece, this time coming from the foot of Marc Burch, created trouble in the RSL box as the ball caromed around wildly. Emilio looked to have grabbed his second of the evening when he finally banged home from close range, but linesman Adam Wienckowski had raised his flag for offside -- to the relief of Kotschau, who had failed to push up with the rest of the Real back line and nearly kept two men onside.
After Real lingered with too many numbers in the attacking end, Gomez led a classic D.C. counterattack in the 65th minute, racing forward into the penalty box and slotting a short diagonal pass for Fred, who cut a centering pass into the danger area -- but Mantilla arrived in the nick of time to poke the ball over the endline and out of harm's way.
United were finally getting a grip on the game and they grabbed the lead again in the 73rd minute when Real once more found themselves unable to clear their area on a set piece.
Burch's initial shot was blocked, but the ball eventually made its way to Boswell, standing just beyond the far corner of the six-yard box. The tall center back backheeled the ball into the empty space behind him, allowing Fred to whip a first-time cross to the far post where a completely unmarked Gomez nodded a header downwards into the goal for a 2-1 United advantage.
But barely two minutes later, the RFK faithful were shocked when Perkins collected an innocent-looking Salt Lake free kick into his area, only for Gonzalez to point to the spot and indicate a shirt-tug by Devon McTavish on Carey Talley as the two grappled in the area.
Eskandarian stepped up to the spot with a chance to pull his team back into a share of the points, yet he too was denied just as Gomez had been earlier, as Perkins moved to his left to slap his bid away and preserve the lead. Gonzalez quickly whistled Burch for a foul outside the box, but United cleared that chance, too, to the delight of the home fans.
Looking for a bit of inspiration that might rescue a point for his side, Real coach Jason Kreis threw on Jamaican trickster Andy Williams in the final minutes. But the equalizer never arrived for RSL as United, despite never looking fully comfortable all night, held their nerve and gratefully headed to the locker rooms with a 2-1 victory.
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
