Man of the Match: If there was justice in the world (or at least in the world of MLS stats) D.C. United right midfielder Nick DeLeon would get an assist on Chris Pontius’ goal right after the break. It was all DeLeon, whose determined dribbling and nimble spin near goal eventually provided Pontius with the easy of close-range put-aways. DeLeon, a rookie who has been fairly quite lately, not much like the energetic sort we saw in the spring, also did his share on defense, helping to contain the dangerous Dilly Duka.
Packaged for take-away:
- DeLeon needed a night like this one. With Andy Najar on his way back from the Olympics, he’ll need to keep bringing it to keep that starting spot.
- Ben Olsen gave a surprise start to Long Tan, who took up a post slightly higher than Dwayne De Rosario.
- First big opportunity went to Dilly Duka for Columbus, who worked his way into a great position but couldn’t beat Bill Hamid from close range. Duka continues to look dangerous for Columbus, and United devoted a lot of energy to containing his side.
- De Rosario always plays close to the edge, offside-wise; So does Tan, as we see now. Final offside count for the home team: 12. For both teams combined: 18. Blek!
- A lot of tactical fouling in midfield was going on for Columbus; that’s the referee’s job to enforce, of course. It took a while for Allen Chapman to get hold of it, but both wide men for Columbus (Justin Meram and Dilly Duka) had yellow cards inside the first 28 minutes. Central midfielder Chris Birchall got one in the 35th, and it was quite well deserved for a nasty swipe from behind on a dashing Chris Pontius.
- With such a primary defensive tactic eliminated by the bookings, United began getting just a little more of the game and inching closer to scoring opportunities.
- Meanwhile, both of the Crew’s central midfielder starters Saturday are defensive sorts. So neither Milovan Mirosevic nor Birchall were able to establish a reliable connection with Eddie Gaven, who played behind striker Jairo Arrieta.
- Outside backs getting forward? Yeah, not much in this one. Not effectively, at any rate.
- A pretty scary moment came and went for DCU fans in the first half when a Carlos Mendes tackle sent De Rosario crashing to the turf and clutching his shoulder. He was soon back to full “De Ro.”
- With Branko Boskovic, the would-be DCU playmaker, plus De Rosario, plus the reliable possession provided centrally by Perry Kitchen, why does center back Emiliano Dudar insist on launching so many big balls past the midfield?
- Still in need of a goal, the Crew went to … Tony Tchani for Mirosevic? Tchani is no more attack-minded than the man he replaced. It draws a circle around the lack of attacking options at the moment for Crew coach Robert Warcycha.
- Best players for Columbus? Chad Marshall had a credible night, although he could have been closer on target with a couple of chances on attacking restarts. Birchall was strong on the defensive end of his midfield chores. And goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum was steady in goal, helping his team with about three nice saves. But nothing new there.
- United still doesn’t look comfortable (or make the best choices) while holding a late lead. It’s still a young team, of course, so maybe that’s to be expected.