As the final whistle was blown at RFK Stadium, fans of DC United had to be shaking their heads after watching their team give up the lead twice. An own goal by Perry Kitchen and a late goal from Carlos Ruiz gave the Philadelphia Union a 2-2 draw with DC United.
It began with high energy for DC, as this was the debut match for their big mid-season signings. The fans who made it to the game were able to witness Dwayne De Rosario’s first match with the number seven jersey as well as the first match at home with DC wearing the red jersey. The match was pretty even early on with both teams getting a few chances, but none were very dominating. DC broke through near the end of the first half with a great pass from Najar to De Rosario who dribbled down the endline and put a low cross into the box for Josh Wolff to finish. Wolff’s goal gave DC the 1-0 lead at halftime which was comforting for the fans. There had been no breakdowns save for one or two scary moments that were saved by Bill Hamid. But nothing too bad that seemed worrisome. Until the second half.
The second half started with the hope that DC could score one more to give them a cushion in case something happened, since this team isn’t known for keeping a close lead very well. Unfortunately before that happened, Perry Kitchen deflected a cross in the box into Hamid’s goal that left everyone, including me, completely deflated. But the feeling didn’t last long after Andy Najar shot a blistering ball from outside the box that gave DC the 2-1 lead. That re-energized the fans at RFK until Carlos Ruiz virtually silenced everyone with his late game heroics that stole a point from DC in the 85th minute. The final score left every DC fan thinking of what could have been; a familiar feeling that hasn’t gone away for the last couple of seasons.
Despite the disappointing result, I thought Bill Hamid had a great match coming up with big saves when needed. If it were not for him, the game could have been easily 4-2 in favor of Philly. He had a great reaction on an earlier attempt from Ruiz, as well as deflecting a few hard shots in the first half. He was not at fault for either goal that was credited to Philly tonight either. The own goal caught him off guard, and bad defending led to him being strung out to dry when Ruiz finished about five feet away from the goal. But if you throw out those two instances, Hamid actually had a pretty good match. Andy Najar is also someone worth mentioning after he kicked the living-holy-OMG-hail mary out the the ball. It was a great shot and completely made my day. It will definitely be a Goal of the Week nominee this week on mlssoccer.com, and I will vote for it. I just wish it had been for a winning cause.
I hope the rest of the DC faithful do not get down on Perry Kitchen because of the own goal. He’s still a rising player and everyone makes mistakes. It’s unfortunate, but it happens. We’ll all move on and get ready for the next match, which will be against the New York Red Bulls on July 9th at Red Bull Arena. And hopefully DC can score and keep the lead next time.
