Monday, September 04, 2006



Maybe, if United captures the Supporters Shield and runs deep in the playoffs, maybe winning the MLS Cup, maybe people will look back at the thirty seconds between Chivas' penalty kick and Gomez' brilliant run and goal and say those thirty seconds saved the season.

The last 20 minutes felt like a Chivas goal was coming, what with Moreno and Gomez out with a tweaked knee and severe cramps respectively and a pretty good (!) Chivas team attacking and a referee who couldn't seem to find yellow except to show it to United. I thought DCU would need a third to get the points (which Gomez almost got twice), and a tie would have felt like a loss, chippy as the game was. The defense looked full of holes, even with Gros pulled back, and without anyone confident on the ball United couldn't hold possession. (And Chivas, in the 59th, had a two-on-goalie, breaking the offside trap, and jamilwalkered it.)

But DCU got the three points, particularly crucial since Boswell and Eskandarian and Gros and Gomez have been yellowed and (Gros) redded out of next Saturday's game v RSL. Adu looked hurt, tentative and ineffective, and Donnet (pronounced Daw-NETT by the announcers) looked as lost on the field as you'd expect a newbie to look, so if Moreno's knee is significantly sore, who will run what offense next Saturday? That game suddenly looks more dangerous than I'd ever have imagined.

It's especially a shame that Gomez yellows out now, just when it looked like he was ready to claim this as his team. The best performance by a DCU player in I can't remember how long. He was urgent, passionate, inspired. He looked like he took personal responsibility for winning the game. That's why he's the MVP of this team and a top MVP candidate in the league. It doesn't matter that the second goal should have been stopped by Burpo Chivas - Gomez made the run and took the shot. I can't count how many times this year I've shouted, Shoot the effing ball! Gomez took it on himself and shot.

No corners have been turned. Any assumptions that this victory marks a return to form are misguided and wishful thinking. Chivas ran crosses against the defense all day, and Perkins, not the defense (especially Freddy v Garcia in the first half), kept it to one goal. The last twenty minutes were dreadful, offensively; DCU could not string passes together when they desperately needed to maintain possession.

But it was a gutty win against a decent if dirty team at a time DCU needed a gutty win. A tie would have reopened old wounds. A loss would have inflicted new ones. DCU desperately needed an effort like they produced, and that the game was nasty and chippy AND they got the three can only help the refocusing of energy and urgency they need to achieve their goals.

And lastly, a note to Facundo Erpen - if you're going to kick punkassbitch Ante Razov in the head, KICK! him in the head so he doesn't get back up.

No, wait, one more note: it's going to be very very easy to hate Chivas very very soon.

1 Comments:

Blogger Landru said...

They've scored one goal on DCU in their history--and that on a penalty--and you're already about the hatin'?

I think there needs to be a word that means something more than "chippy." Because that shit was just downright violent.

8:42 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home