Blackburn Rovers D.C. United
1 - 1
Final (DC wins 6-5 on PKs)
Scoring:
BLA - Andy Cole 1 (Martin Taylor 1) 30
DC - Brian Carroll 1 (Ali Curtis 4) 85
[Preview] [Event Log] [Boxscore] [Recap]
D.C. Beats Blackburn on PKs
WASHINGTON, D.C. – D.C. United tonight defeated Blackburn Rovers of the English Premier League 6-5 in a penalty kick shootout after United scored a late goal in regulation to cancel out a first-half strike from Andy Cole. The result leaves United’s undefeated mark against England’s top division unblemished with a 4-0-1 overall record since the club was formed in 1996.
“I’m proud of the way my boys played tonight, nice, attractive football,” said United Head Coach Ray Hudson. “Let’s not get carried away here, however. Blackburn is in their preseason. That said, we did MLS, our fans and our club proud tonight.”
United played the aggressor in the early going and controlled most of the first fifteen minutes though several good chances for the Black-and-Red went unrewarded. In the sixth minute, Hristo Stoitchkov got on the end of a Marco Etcheverry through-ball and rounded Brad Friedel, but his shot was cleared off the line by a Blackburn defender. Stoitchkov had another look at goal when he volleyed Etcheverry’s curling free kick, but Friedel was again up to the challenge, diving left to smother the effort.
Blackburn was not without their chances though, as the striking trio of Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, and Matt Jensen created opportunities in the offensive third. Yorke had his half-breakaway parried away by Rimando and minutes later Blackburn found the net, only to have the linesman’s flag negate the score.
Blackburn did successfully open the scoring at the half-hour mark, though, somewhat against the run of play. Rovers took a deep free kick into United’s box and Martin Taylor headed the ball back across the goal. Andy Cole finished off the play with a header that Rimando got his hand on but could not keep out.
Friedel’s heroics again saved Blackburn in the 39th minute when a diving stop deflected away a fierce volley from Alecko Eskandarian inside the box. The resulting corner saw the American ‘keeper fly through the air to prevent an own goal off of Brett Emerton. The half ended with Blackburn on top by a 1-0 score.
The second half started with several new faces, as Doug Warren came on for Rimando and Blackburn’s goal scorer Andy Cole took as seat as Paul Gallagher stepped on for him. Jay McEveley also left the field for Rovers with Nills-Eric Johansson replacing him.
Both sides struggled to create opportunities in the opening minutes of the second half. The substitutions continued throughout the half and seemed to drain some of the fire from the game. However, Santino Quaranta nearly had an opportunity in the 70th minute on a ball through the defense from Brian Carroll. The Blackburn defense collapsed quickly though to ward off the danger.
Ben Olsen had a half-chance when he was fed a nice pass from Eliseo Quintanilla. Olsen’s left-footed attempt from just outside the box gave Friedel no trouble, though, and that was the last action the U.S. National Team veteran would see before coming off to a warm ovation in the 75th minute.
The game dragged on for the next ten minutes before the hustle of Ali Curtis provided United with an equalizer. The energetic striker pressured Yelldell, Friedel’s replacement, on a weak back-pass. Curtis slid through aggressively, taking the ball off of the keeper’s foot. It deflected straight to Brian Carroll and the rookie made no mistake with the finish, easily slotting the ball into the open net.
With the result still undecided after 90 minutes, the game headed to penalty kicks. All five initial shooters for both teams finished their chances. Brandon Prideaux took United’s sixth effort and blasted his attempt into the crossbar. However, Warren was up to the challenge and he got a hand on Andy Todd’s shot, pushing it against the post to force a seventh round of kicks. Dema Kovalenko easily finished for United and Nils-Eric Johansson sent his shot wide to give United the win. D.C. will next take the field on Sunday evening in Foxboro, MA as they take on the New England Revolution. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Blackburn Rovers vs. D.C. United
July 23, 2003 -- RFK Stadium
Goals by Period 1 2 Tot
Blackburn Rovers 1 0 1
D.C. United 0 1 1
D.C. United Win on Penalty Kicks 6-5
Scoring Summary:
BLA -- Andy Cole 1 (Martin Taylor 1) 30
DC -- Brian Carroll 1 (Ali Curtis 4) 85
Penalty Kicks Summary (After 90 minutes):
DC -- Marco Etcheverry, Goal
BLA -- Lorenzo Amoruso, Goal
DC -- Ben Olsen, Goal
BLA -- Lucas Neill, Goal
DC -- Eliseo Quintanilla, Goal
BLA -- Egil Ostenstad, Goal
DC -- Galin Ivanov, Goal
BLA -- Paul Gallagher, Goal
DC -- Ali Curtis, Goal
BLA -- Martin Taylor, Goal
DC -- Brandon Prideaux, Crossbar
BLA -- Andy Todd, Saved
DC -- Dema Kovalenko, Goal
BLA -- Nils-Eric Johansson, Wide Right
Blackburn Rovers -- Brad Friedel (David Yelldell 75), Lorenzo Amoruso, Jay McEveley (Paul Gallagher 46), Lucas Neill, Martin Taylor, Brett Emerton, David Thompson (Andy Todd 16), Neil Danns, Andy Cole (Nils-Eric Johansson 46), Matt Jansen (Dean Saunders 71), Dwight Yorke (Egil Ostenstad 53).
Substitutes Not Used:
TOTAL SHOTS: 6 (Brett Emerton 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (5 tied with 1); FOULS: 13 (Brett Emerton 3); OFFSIDES: 2 (Andy Cole 1, Egil Ostenstad 1); CORNER KICKS: 7 (Brett Emerton 4); SAVES: 6 (Brad Friedel 5)
D.C. United -- Nick Rimando (Doug Warren 46), David Stokes, Galin Ivanov, Brandon Prideaux, Bryan Namoff (Mike Petke 72), Santino Quaranta (Ali Curtis 81), Marco Etcheverry, Ryan Nelsen (Brian Carroll 65), Dema Kovalenko, Alecko Eskandarian (Eliseo Quintanilla 65), Hristo Stoitchkov (Ben Olsen 53).
Substitutes Not Used: Devin Barclay, Jorge Geddes.
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Alecko Eskandarian 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Alecko Eskandarian 3); FOULS: 13 (David Stokes 5); OFFSIDES: 4 (4 tied with 1); CORNER KICKS: 7 (Hristo Stoitchkov 4); SAVES: 4 (Nick Rimando 3)
Misconduct Summary:
BLA -- Martin Taylor (caution; Tackle from Behind) 16
BLA -- Lucas Neill (caution; Dissent) 92+
Referee: Ali Saheli
Referee's Assistants: -Robert Fereday; Bill Dittmar
4th Official: Andrew Chapin
Attendance: 9,452
Time of Game: 2:02
Weather: Cloudy-and-80-degrees