Dynamo step into SuperLiga semis
Clark, Boswell, Holden tally goals in 3-1 road rout of D.C. United
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Ricardo Clark and Bobby Boswell put the Dynamo ahead by two goals in the opening 28 minutes, and while Francis Doe pulled a goal back for United, Stuart Holden sealed the match with a late strike.
The win gives Dynamo six points from their group games, meaning that the only way they would not be in the final four was if Atlante defeated CD Guadalajara by eight goals in the night's second match in Santa Clara, Calif.
With the teams meeting for the first time in four games, with a rescheduled league match set for Tuesday, also at RFK Stadium, Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear started a predominantly first-choice side, inserting Geoff Cameron and Corey Ashe for U.S. Olympian Holden and Brian Ching.
With Ching resting on the sidelines at the start of the match and the release of Argentinean striker Franco Caraccio earlier in the week, Kinnear pushed Dwayne De Rosario and Brian Mullen into forward positions with Cameron working behind them.
De Rosario wasted no time making an impact, taking a ball from Ashe off the opening kickoff down the right flank but his shimmering half-volley from inside the penalty area went just wide of the left post.
Clark gave the Dynamo the lead in the 12th minute, nodding home a corner kick. Clark slipped inside an unaware Ryan Cordeiro and banged the ball between goalkeeper Zach Wells and Craig Thompson, who was positioned on the near post.
Two minutes earlier, United built their first sustained attack culminating with an unmarked Luciano Emilio knocking a header from a step inside the penalty spot harmlessly into the hands of Pat Onstad.
Former United star Boswell punished his former mates extending the lead to 2-0 in the 27th minute knocking in a header off a Brad Davis free kick past Wells, the player he was traded for in the offseason. Marc Burch had fouled De Rosario to set up the free kick wide on the right flank.
United could only muster a Cordeiro shot from just inside the top left corner of the penalty area during the remainder of the first half that was drilled right into Onstad's belly.
Eddie Robinson crumbling to the turf in the 49th minute after being kicked in the head by the wayward boot of Rod Dyachenko provided the only angst of the second half for the Dynamo. The worry was short-lived, however, as the big defender got up on his own power and continued.
United basically waved the white flag at the start of the half, pulling Emilio in favor of Dyachenko and later Fred and Clyde Simms. The exodus opened the door for Kinnear to reciprocate, inserting Holden for Davis at the start of the half and later Ching and Chris Wondolowski for some extra work. He also put in Patrick Ianni for Robinson in the 65th minute.
United chose to sit Jaime Moreno for the duration of the match and with nary a creative influence on the park, United offered very little to threaten the Dynamo defense.
They did pull a goal back however, adding a little excitement to the match in the 77th minute on goal. Francis Doe got inside position on Clark and finished a Burch cross from the right flank into an open net to make the score 2-1. The floater was just out of the reach of the reach of Onstad, who came off the line in plenty of time but mistimed his jump.
Quavas Kirk, also a second-half entry, followed that up in the 80th minute, hitting the outside of the post on a shot from the top of the arc of the penalty area.
Holden put the flames out four minutes later burying his third goal of the tournament. Ching sprung the Olympian at full speed into the right side of the penalty area with a perfectly weighted pass from deep in the midfield.
Chris Snear is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
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