Top Stories

Mancosu, Impact cruise past D.C. United

Photo by Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports
Photo by Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports

No Drogba, no problem.

The Montreal Impact cruised past D.C. United at RFK Stadium on Thursday, winning, 4-1, to seal a spot in the conference semifinals. The win sees the Impact book a date with the New York Red Bulls, who will visit Stade Saputo on Sunday.

It took just four minutes for the Impact to jump into the lead. On a corner in from Marco Donadel, Laurent Ciman smashed a volleyed finish, giving the Impact an early lead.

Two minutes beforehalftime, Matteo Mancosu scored the first of his two goals. His first, a 43rd minute finish, was assisted by Ignacio Piatti, who fed the Italian right in front of goal. The second, a cross in from Ambroise Oyongo, saw Mancosu flick a header to the far post for his brace.

Mancosu then turned provider, feeding Piatti in the 83rd minute to ice the game. A pair of late finishes from Lamar Neagle and Taylor Kemp were little more than a consolation for a D.C. team that was eliminated in resounding fashion on Thursday night.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Matteo Mancosu showed that the Impact can certainly score without Didier Drogba, firing two goals and adding an assist in one of his better games since moving to MLS.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Laurent Ciman started the Impact off with a bang, stealing momentum early for the visiting Impact.

MATCH TO FORGET

Bobby Boswell and the D.C. United defense were terrible, and the game certainly wasn’t as close as the 4-2 scoreline indicates.

Comments

  1. Boswell is definitely a major weakness to the team. His defense is inconsistent and his ability to distribute the ball once he’s actually won it is atrocious. The guy passes like he’s Zinadine Zidane out there.

    Olsen’s tactics improved this year and I think his current set up is very attacking oriented even with 1 striker. He fundamentally has a 4-2-3-1 which allows those top four players a lot of attacking freedom. The problem is the personnel. The outside backs and two holding midfielders need to be able to support the attack much better by winning the ball and quickly transitioning into offense. None of Marcelo, Jeffrey, or Vincent can do that well. DC will have the off season to get some new faces in there to become more consistent.

    The scary thing is that Olsen’s quotes indicate that he really likes these players. If he really does, he needs to go. I hope he’s saying that because he knows that he will be stuck with several of them after the off season. My priorities would be:

    #1 Get a LB that can help hold the ball and support the attack while defending consistently
    #2 Get a holding midfielder with some real passing skills and a soccer brain that can link the defense with the attack. A real deep lying playmaker in the mold of Chris Armas in his prime.
    #3 With any money left over get a crazy athletic winger with a nose for goal. The DC United attack really favors that type of player, but Nyarko, Sam, Neagle, Rolfe are all average players for MLS. They have their moments, but don’t do it consistently.

    DC United has a strong core of players in the middle with Hamid, Birnbaum, Acosta, and Mullins. They need to build from that base. Extending Birnbaum’s contract should also be a top priority.

    Reply
  2. Anyone who has been following DCU knows that Boswell was at his peak during his 1st stint with us. Don’t know why they lured him back again after the Dynamo.

    Olsen must go !!!! Cannot stand watching the team’s anemic attack playing with only 1 forward.

    Reply

Leave a Comment