Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIphotos.com
By THOMAS FLOYD
WASHINGTON – The path to the Eastern Conference title will go through Livestrong Sporting Park.
When Sporting Kansas City wrapped up its record road trip to start the MLS campaign in June, the team's 1-6-3 mark was the league's worst. But thanks to a four-month surge driven by the club's raucous new venue and capped by a 1-0 win at D.C. United on Saturday, Kansas City will enter the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
"Credit to the guys," Kansas City coach Peter Vermes said. "They put us in this position. They worked hard. They believed in what we were trying to do and they stayed committed to each other and the organization. From that part, I'm extremely proud because sometimes it's easy to lose your belief and spirit, and I think it's just the opposite with this group of guys."
Defender Matt Besler's 54th-minute goal was all Kansas City (13-9-12) needed to defeat United (9-13-12), which was eliminated from playoff contention with a 1-1 draw against Portland on Wednesday.
The All-Star centerback scored after forward Kei Kamara nodded a Graham Zusi corner kick off the post, skillfully turning and firing home the rebound amid a crowded penalty area.
As the top seed, Kansas City will host the second leg of its Eastern Conference semifinal series against a wild-card team and, should it advance, be at home for the conference title game as well.
"Besler came up big," Kamara said. "Putting that goal in gave us the home-field advantage."
While Kansas City went 3-1-3 away from home after its season-opening road swing, D.C. finished the year with a dismal 4-5-8 mark at RFK Stadium.
With only pride on the line, United coach Ben Olsen deployed a 4-3-3 for the first time to match Kansas City's three-forward standard alignment. Anchoring United's front line, MVP candidate Dwayne De Rosario fired nine of D.C.'s 14 shots but couldn't add to his league-leading 16 goals.
One player Olsen did not call upon was striker Charlie Davies, who was left on the bench as an unused substitue after playing just 76 minutes of United's previous three matches combined. With Davies' loan deal from French club Sochaux set to expire, the 25-year-old enters the offseason with his future shrouded in doubt.
"I thought I did everything that was asked of me," said Davies, who scored 11 goals this season but none since early September. "You can go to Wayne Rooney and [Didier] Drogba and all these big-time strikers, Fernando Torres, and they go on goal-scoring droughts, but the coach still sticks with them and still gives them confidence.
"And I feel like that's something I didn't get. But again, I've got to take the blame for myself. I've got to score, create more chances and be more of a pest on the defensive end."
Against the Davies-less United squad, Kansas City had the better of the possession throughout Saturday's contest. Zusi's vision in central midfield helped create numerous opportunities for wingers Omar Bravo and Kamara, who pinched inside and repeatedly tested United goalkeeper Bill Hamid.
It was D.C., though, that came closest to taking a lead in the first half. In the 38th minute, De Rosario freed midfielder Stephen King on a breakaway, only to see goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen alertly charge off his line to snuff the shot. Minutes later, Nielsen spilled a Santino Quaranta blast right to De Rosario, but the Canadian pushed his rebound attempt over the goal.
United's best chance, however, came deep into second-half stoppage time, when substitute Josh Wolff rang the crossbar with a diving header.
"In the end, we didn't do enough to get the result," Wolff said. "Obviously, I wanted that one chance at the end to go in."
Seconds later, D.C.'s season came to an end while the visitors celebrated a first-place finish. For Kansas City, the team's attention now turns to next weekend, when it will play the organization's first playoff game since 2008.
"It's a great feeling to come back from where we were at," Besler said. "It shows the character of this team. We never lost hope."
Davies is a jerk. Send him packing.
where will davies go peeps? Think another mls team will pay for him?
From worst to first, all in one season.
One of the most exciting teams to watch in MLS, boring teams take note: you can play exciting soccer and still win (Toronto are starting to do it too, now).
Good for them. Philly could learn a thing or two from these cats….
I miss Jimmy…
great composure from a defender