United starting to feel at home at BMO

After building BMO Field into a fortress in its first couple years in MLS, the Canadians’ home field doesn’t quite carry the mystique it once did, at least not for the Black & Red. It was only last year when Toronto faced D.C. at BMO Field and the Canadians were in a must-win situation. D.C. had only pride to play for while Toronto was in the thick of the race for the playoffs. It took a late goal in 2010 for United to put a major dent in Toronto’s playoff hopes; it wasn’t nearly as close last Saturday. The away team were fully deserving of the 3-0 scoreline.

Couresty of dcunited.com

D.C. United needed a win to get back some of the momentum created by their opening match of the season and it showed. Toronto came out looking sluggish while D.C. looked the opposite, a hungry, pressing team looking to pounce on early mistakes. Toronto provided the chances and United made sure they paid for them.

Chris Pontius has become an important player under Olsen. The first of his brace of goals opened up the scoring. He was the first to a weak Andrian Cann header before he surged by Jacob Peterson and finished expertly past Frei. His second put United far out of the reach of Toronto’s anemic attack. In the same vein as his first career goal, he cut the ball onto his right foot and curled the ball inside the far post. The quality of both his goals shows that he is just not a problem for MLS defenders because of his speed, but his skill and finishing ability can really make defending him difficult.

Davies’ dream start also continued when he made his first start for the Black & Red. One to seize the moment, Charlie added to his impressive goal tally for his new club putting United up 2-0 after only 9 minutes. It was Josh Wolff’s shot that was parried by Frei, but as ever the opportunist Davies was there to put the rebound in to the net. He now leads MLS with five goals.

The sending off of Ty Harden may have inadvertently helped Toronto. Chris Pontius was taken down after being clean through on goal and the Toronto defender saw straight red. However, D.C. failed to take advantage of their goal and man advantage and the sending off seemed to rejuvenate a tired looking Toronto. Despite the swing of momentum, United were able to maintain the shut-out, which will be a huge confident boost to Bill Hamid.

Now D.C. will look ahead to their rivals in New Jers..I mean, New York on Thursday. National television awaits.

Man of the Match: Chris Pontius.

Notes:

The attack of D.C. is opportunistic, not consistent. The team still struggles to create chances on the build up, rather they prey on the mistakes of their opponents.

Set pieces will come back to haunt this team if they do not improve. On Thursday night D.C. will face the Red Bulls, a team that just scored goal on a similar far post breakdown against San Jose in their last match.

Strength in youth. When Dejan Jakovic came off the field, only 25 himself, United had a backline of Kitchen, White, Korb, and Burch. Three rookies and a 26 year old. Thanks to D.C.’s productive academy and promising draft, they are starting to make other MLS teams look geriatric.

Last year D.C. United had 16 goals after the Toronto win at BMO Field. That game was in September. D.C. has scored 9 league goals in the first month and a half of 2011.

Category: Competitions, Major League Soccer, Match Recap