It would be very easy to blame our late-game draw against D.C. United on officiating, and to be sure, referee Terry Vaughn had a detrimental effect on our attempt to get three points today. When Charlie Davies went over in the 85th minute, my heart was in my mouth from north goal. From our position at north goal, I had to duck to see under the crossbar (ah, the name of the blog!) to see the action, and the only detail I had was that Wingert went to ground, then Davies fell over. As the world now knows, Vaughn blew the whistle, and D.C. equalized.
I thought it was a little suspect, but I’m inclined to think every call against is at least a little suspect on first reaction. I don’t think I’m alone in that. Post-match, I jumped to Twitter to grab the latest reactions from people in more opportune views than mine. The calls of “dive’ were pretty clear, certainly, but I wasn’t much satisfied without conclusive evidence. It is with some relief that I found MLS posting match video quite quickly, and what I saw — and what everyone saw afterward — was damning.
Wingert went to ground well ahead of Davies, who knocked the ball away, then fell over without an ounce, a smidgeon of contact. It was as plain a dive as I’ve ever seen, and if Wingert touched Davies at all, it was only in the final moment of his fall, immediately before he hit the ground — and that was because Davies fell blatantly on top of Chris’s legs.
It was harsh on our left back, and harsher still that he came off with what seems to be a hamstring injury. Here’s hoping he recovers from that, which he probably sustained stomping over to the referee in protest. I can’t blame him.
But we should never have been in a situation where a single goal could draw things level. We spurned chance after chance on the way to the final whistle, unable to really close down the game. Up 1-0 at home is never that comfortable, and while we are quite solid defensively, when luck strikes, it’s important that we have a chance to retain our lead, even if the referee has a blinder.
And we were solid defensively for the most part — Olave was tackling like a man alive, and Borchers was as solid as he’s been. Young Tony Beltran was bombing down the right wing and getting back like the best in the league, and Chris Wingert was solid if largely unremarkable on the left. The penalty can’t stain his record here, and I doubt much he’ll let it effect him long term — save that it may push him on to be even more solid.
It was in the midfield that we saw our biggest problems. Kyle Beckerman played in a less withdrawn role, pushing forward in the midfield a bit more than usual. Leaving that space is something he often does, and typically, our other midfielders rotate a bit, and everything’s all fine and dandy. But last night, Ned Grabovoy — who played quite well, mind you — was stuck chasing the ball further forward, and Andy Williams played a more free role, probing at the D.C. defense, leaving Collen Warner to cover for Kyle at crucial times. Problematically, Warner still isn’t slotting into our midfield well. He had some very bright moments, and his promise is clear, but he is not the solution to our woes right now. That much is obvious.
The return of Will Johnson from Canada duty can’t have come soon enough. He will take a short period to re-adjust, I’m sure, but once he’s back to full fitness and confidence, he will be a real help to our midfield position. He’s always a hard worker, and that’s one thing Collen Warner is struggling with. The number of long shots D.C. had that cracked against the framework was terrifying. Warner isn’t to blame for all that, but if he puts in a better shift, those shots are less frequent.
It wasn’t all bad, though. We won a penalty in the first half through Kyle Beckerman’s clever play. I don’t mean clever play like some have described Davies’ dive. After a great run to the box, Kyle darted left, sent the ball to his right, D.C.’s Clyde Simms fell over, and the ball hit his arm. It was a bit harsh on Simms, to be fair. He hadn’t played that badly, and he didn’t quite deserve the penalty call, but it was a clear penalty, and there can’t be too many complaints to be had.
So, Fabian Espindola sent the ball whizzing into the net on the penalty kick, and in doing so, he notched his 20th goal for the Claret and Cobalt, pushing him to an uncontested second place in RSL goalscoring. He had been tied with Jeff Cunningham at 19, and his second decade of scoring was great for the lad. He works hard, and his attitude has seen massive improvement. Fabian is a vital cog in our system, and we really are lucky to have somebody who works as hard as he does.
Our second-half substitutions couldn’t save us — Will Johnson in the 66th minute for the ineffective Collen Warner, Artur Aghasyan in the 83rd for a potentially injured Fabian Espindola, and Robbie Russell for an also potentially injured Chris Wingert in the 86th. Aghasyan looked bright and was as full of running as he’s been — goddamn, he’s fast! — but D.C. were looking for a draw at that point, and we weren’t able to unleash our new signing. Will Johnson looked a little rusty but 100 percent committed to the cause. I, for one, am glad he’s back, and I hope he’s not too upset by Canada’s departure from the Gold Cup. Russell, who was rotated out today (I suspect he’ll be in on the right on Wednesday at Chicago), didn’t have much opportunity to make a mark, so there’s not much to say about him today.
That’s how it happened. It was as upsetting a draw as any, and perhaps we as fans are right to feel hard done by. But the team let us down last night, and they could have worked harder, pushed more, and grabbed a vital second goal. We deserved more than a draw, but until we sort out our midfield situation, there will be more of those crushing moments to come. Kreis knows this, the team knows this, and I hope Collen Warner knows this. He’s being given a golden opportunity, and if he doesn’t grab it with both hands, it’s going to quickly vanish.
We go to Chicago on Wednesday, and I hope the squad is ready to put in a good performance and return to our winning ways. We’ve only won seven points from seven matches, and frankly, we’re better than that.
Man of the Match: Ned Grabovoy
Ned's really stepped up in this team, and his hard work is exactly what we need from every player on the team. For that, I'm naming him my man of the match.
Video highlights:
http://www.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2011-06-18-real-salt-lake-vs-dc-united/highlights
Wingert’s comments:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/52033315-77/rsl-wingert-davies-penalty.html.csp
Salt Lake Tribune match report:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/52033117-77/rsl-penalty-united-kick.html.csp
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