Matt Mathai captures the highlight of the night - Eddie Pope's Induction
All summer long we hoped and cheered that Landon Donovan would find his name on the score sheet. But when Donovan sent a 58th-minute penalty kick beyond the outstretched arms of Troy Perkins, there were no cheers, instead, jeers at RFK Stadium.
A 2-1 loss to the L.A. Galaxy on Sunday furthers a win-less July for United, who have not won a league match since an early June victory in Seattle.
Hey! If you wanted more scoring for the home side - you could have joined Matt Mathai at a minor league game down the road
Not that the United faithful have turned on the face of our national team – who came to town in his rival blue and gold as opposed to the red,white and blue – but like the heat and humidity that surrounds Washington, disappointment now fills the summer air.
Edson Buddle gave L.A. the lead midway through the first half. Andy Najar managed to tie things up early in the second, before a handball in the box from Julius James handed the ball inside the box, setting up Donovan for the eventual match winner.
A 21st-minute run down the right flank by Sean Franklin has the Galaxy looking to strike. His low cross to the front of the goal was met by teammate, Edson Buddle and Perkins, with the goalkeeper getting just enough of the ball to touch it away.
The persistent visitors were back at it again in the 38th minute with Franklin and Buddle causing havic to the United backline. This time Franklin cut his run short, finding Buddle atop the box, where the 29-year-old forward then split two D.C. defenders. His initial shot was deflected by a sliding Dejan Jakovic. With a level of composure, unseen around RFK these days, Buddle collected the ball, avoided the pressure of Stephen King and placed a shot through the legs of Perkins.
United responded well, earning a free kick outside the L.A. box in the 40th minute. New foward, Pablo Hernandez’s shot drew a diving save from Donovan Ricketts, denying the potential equalizer.
Seconds before the break, D.C. looked sure to have cracked the L.A. defense. A pass ahead to Hernandez was settled and laid off for King, whose shot was blocked. The rebound fell to Santino Quaranta, who attempted an acrobatic, sideways half-volley, but he too was stopped by Ricketts.
Building off the last few minutes of the end of the first half, United found itself with a dangerous free kick wide of the the L.A. box. A 54th-minute in-swinger from Hernandez evaded the head of Buddle and was placed perfectly for Najar to equalize.
But as soon as the match seemed to be swinging into D.C.’s favor, L.A. deflated the United momentum.
Again, Franklin was giving the United defense fits. Unable to recover to the play in time, James was whistled for a handball as he caught up to Franklin and slid in to stop the attack. Up stepped Donovan, who in his regular fashion crouched down before the kick preparing to land the go-ahead goal. A powerful shot to the left of Perkins was too fast, as the D.C. keeper guessed correctly but was still beaten by the shot.
The 88th minute saw Quaranta send a ball to the L.A. box, who employed an unsuccessful off-side trap. With several United players alone in the box, James redirected the kick back to Hernandez. Ricketts, now off his line, closed the angle as Hernandez headed the ball over the crossbar – knowing well, that was the best chance he would get to levelling the match.
The loss makes it two straight defeats at home for United, in a period of four days.
Unbearable like the heat, at times, United have several questions to solve and little time to do it in this rather disappointing season.
D.C. will look to rebound with a match against the Harrisburg City Islanders on Wednesday in part with the U.S. Open Cup. Match time is slated for 7:30 p.m., at Maryland SoccerPlex.
