Cue up Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” because that is exactly what the Eastern Conference’s top team, D.C. United, is doing in the standings. Ben Olsen’s team is currently on a 3 game losing streak, having not earned a single point since August 8th when they defeated Montreal 1-0. That game was record setting, in that D.C. only took one shot all game, a goal off the foot of Chris Rolfe. The game marked the first time a team won a game with just one registered shot. If these latest stretch of games for D.C. don’t exude futility, I am not sure you are an avid soccer follower.
This current free fall in the standings may not be all that surprising since there have been signs all season that this is a team that tows the line between winning and losing:
Exhibit A – D.C. United has mounted comeback wins an impressive seven times this season, eight if you count their lone come-from-behind draw in New England on May 23rd. Eight out of 18 games in which they trailed were turned into points. Twenty two points, to be exact, half of their current point total on the season. Had D.C. lost those points, they would be sitting at the bottom of the table.
Exhibit B – The Red and Black have been kings of late game drama, having had eleven of their games decided by goals scored in the last ten minutes of regulation, includes stoppage time. The team has a record of four wins, five losses and two ties in games with goals in the last ten minutes that decided the outcome. Overall this season, D.C. has scored six goals while allowing seven in the final ten minutes. Two of those allowed goals came in the game that began the current losing streak in New York against NYCFC, that lead to a 3-1 loss after being tied going in to the final ten minutes. At the beginning of the season, D.C. won back to back games with a 93rd minute goal v L.A. Galaxy and a 96th minute goal v. Orlando City. This could be looked in one of two ways, either they are a lucky team to be able to get goals that decide games late or they are a snake bitten team that continuously allows game deciding goals in the late stages.
Exhibit C – D.C.’s current goal differential (GD) is nominal when taken at face value. They currently sit at a +1 GD, which is still good for a tie as third best in the East with Toronto FC. However, the team that is chasing them in the standings and only two points back (New York Red Bulls) have an East leading +15 GD, while in the West, their GD would only be good for a 7th best tie with Houston Dynamo. In the history of a two conference MLS era, the worst GD by a conference champion was zero by the 2002 New England Revolution, however, the average conference champion GD is +15. D.C. would need to outscore their opponents by 14 goals in their last six games in order to reach that mark, which seems like a mountainous task for a team that only scores 1.25 goals per game.
Things don’t get much easier knowing that the Red Bulls are only two points behind them with three games in hand, and are surging at the right time as they have captured points in nine of their last eleven games since June 24. The focus now turns to their last six games, including two games against Columbus. The Red and Black will have to maximize their points at home (3 games) and look to steal some on the road (3 games) or else “Free Fallin’” will become the soundtrack of the 2015 D.C. United season.
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