United ends Cup hex against Chicago with 2-1 win in extra time

Chris Webb

July 08, 2008

Fire Keeper John Bush dives in vain as Brian Namoff's shot (not picture) sails into the side netting

Fire Keeper John Bush dives in vain as Brian Namoff's shot (not picture) sails into the side netting
Photo: Martin Fernandez

Bryan Namoff's glancing header nine minutes into stoppage time was the difference in United's 2-1 win over the Chicago Fire. The win gave United it's first ever victory over Chicago in a knockout competition after years of frustrating losses.

Washington D.C., Francis Doe's 77th minute goal got United to extra time and Bryan Namoff's header sealed the deal in this heated affair before an overflow crowd of 4,118 at the Maryland Soccerplex in Germantown, Md.

In a match that saw 38 fouls commited between the two teams and a pair of red card ejections in extra time, it was substitute Jaime Moreno's calm and composure that helped United to an historic victory over the Chicago Fire in the quarterfinal round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Moreno assisted on both goals before bowing out to a tweaked hamstring injury in the 103rd minute. Moreno's inclusion into the game was very much needed as United looked unorganized and unimpressive through the first hour of the match.

Both teams started the match with watered down versions of their normal starting XI. United had Moreno and Gonzalo Peralta on the bench as well as injured Santino Quaranta and Marcelo Gallardo in the stands. Meanwhile,Chicago left four of their normal starters on the bench, including the volatile Cuauhtemoc Blanco who would later be sent off in a bizarre incident deep into the first extra session of overtime.

Both United and the visiting Fire came out a bit flat in the match with only a handful of chances through the first thirty minutes. However, it was the visitors who went in front in the 36th minute thanks to another defensive blunder from United.

Fire midfielder Logan Pause sent a seemingly harmless diagonal ball over the defense from right to left with United defender Pat Carroll all ready to sweep the ball away. The United rookie took a wrong step however and attentive Fire defender Daniel Woolard swept in on the mistake and lobbed over Zach Wells for a 1-0 lead.

United went to the half trailing 1-0 and with coach Tom Soehn looking for answers. "Tonight was a hot night and I had to push our guys. We had some time off and I could tell we were a bit rusty but to their credit they fought and scrapped until the very end. We added a couple of guys that I thought impacted the game when they came in and that was the difference of the game."

Craig Thompson and Francis Doe entered the match after halftime for the inneffective Carroll and midfielder Ryan Cordeiro. Both substitutes were a huge boost to a sagging United team that spent most of the first half turning the ball over under little to no pressure. Moreno's inclusion in the 62nd minute jumpstarted United's attack as they went forward in droves.

With Chicago doing well to shut down the outsides, United was forced to try and go through the middle of the field as they are wont to do on occasion. The pressure paid off in the 77th minute when Thompson made the play that kept United alive in the match. Fire defender Wilman Conde fought off a hard challenge from Luciano Emilio deep in the box and was on his way to clearing the ball when the diminutive and lightning quick Thompson came from out of nowhere to execute a perfect sliding tackle on Conde. The ball rebounded out to Moreno who quickly turned towards goal and centered to a wide open Doe to side foot into the net and draw the game level at 1-1.

Just four minutes later United should have been a man up when Fire midfielder John Thorrington visciously took down Moreno from behind. Moreno got a step on Thorrington and was headed towards Chicago's goal when Thorrington chopped him down. A stunned stadium booed when referee Shane Moody only produced a yellow card. Perhaps this was a harbinger of things to come. Moreno did get a bit off payback in the 89th minute when he sent Thorrington to the turf with a less than desirable whack to the ankles and was booked. However, the two competitors shook hands a few seconds later and the final whistle came not long after.


So now the match goes into extra time. Two fifteen minute halves to be followed by penalties should no winner come forth from extra time. Bryan Namoff had other ideas. Jaime Moreno took a corner and Namoff made a near post run and deflected his header to the far post for the game winner. You have to give credit to Jaime Moreno.

"He hit the perfect ball to me so if I didn’t score I think he’d be pretty upset. I made a run and beat the defender and went to the near post and he put it right on my head, all I had to do was make good contact," said Namoff after the match.

After United's rare corner kick score, things really got interesting in stoppage time of the first overtime session. In the 107th minute, Fred was booked for a challenge in front of the United bench. Just seconds after the whistle blew for the foul, Cuauhtemoc Blanco punched Clyde Simms in the stomach in full view of fourth official Mike Donovan and referee's assistant Adam Wienckowski. United defender Marc Burch was the first player to get to Blanco and he laid a retaliatory shoulder into Blanco who fell to the turf like a sack of wet cement. Both benches got up players on both sides were snapping at each other as the referee's finally got the players seperated.

After the dust settled, Blanco and Burch were both shown red and sent off. "He was out there smacking people, kicking people after they were down. He came up and swung as hard as he could and tried to hit the ball and hit Clyde [Simms] in the stomach. I can’t stand that. He thinks he can do whatever he wants so I went over and I pushed him. I mean, I didn’t hit him or go after him, I just pushed him down. He’s not going to do that to my teammates. He stood up and tried to poke Clyde in the eye and cut his eye open. I don’t like him, I don’t think he’s a good person. He’s a good player but when he’s out there he’s doing stuff that he shouldn’t get away with," said Burch afterwards outside the locker room.

Soon after the incident the second overtime came and went with United in a mostly defensive posture as Namoff and Fred both were suffering from cramps and United rode out the tide. With the win United advances to the semi-final round against New England, a winner in penalties over Crystal Palace Baltimore earlier on Tuesday evening. The match will be played at RFK Stadium on August 12th at 7:30 pm.

United now has gone eight games unbeaten in all competitions including a six game winning streak overall. United will start their SuperLiga campain this Saturday evening against Chivas de Guadalajara at RFK Stadium at 8pm

Visitor Comments

On Thomas said:
Nice summary! Thanks. Blanco's a punk, good to see he was caught for once. Even better to see DC finally knock the Fire out of a competition for a change!
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