United 3, Chicago 1

No hosannahs for a team of destiny yet, but everyone should take last night's 3-1 win as reassurance that United's progress continues. The most barnacled and truest sports adage is that good teams win games they should win. Against a team it would have been inexcusable to lose to - and that Chicago team last night would struggle to be midtable in USL - United won.

I was pleased Dyachenko got Moreno's spot, but I thought he had a poorer game, despite the gift goal, than United coaches and players did according to quotes at Goffblog.  He's a midfielder with midfielder instincts, so adjustments were expected and I should cut him some slack. It was interesting watching Dyachenko and Emilio figure the other out, especially early: Emilio would receive, back to the goal thirty yards out, and lay off where Moreno would have been and Dyachenko wasn't. Did get better as the game went on, but it's  significant that when Addlery came on for Olsen Dyachenko moved back. Wonder what Soehn does once Kpene is totally healthy. (I assume, without proof, that if needed Soehn was prepared to use Kpene last night, but since he didn't, why would he?)

McTavish was strong, better than John Wilson ever was, and positive reassurance of some depth on the backline. Assuming Burch's retraining as a defender continues successfully, backline depth seems much less worrisome than even two weeks ago. Erpen got beat on the goal, but not so bad that if Perkins hadn't slipped on the frucking baseball infield - when is that goddamn baseball team getting the fruck out of our stadium? - it couldn't have been stopped, so sharp was the angle.

Everything after the first goal felt anticlimactic, and perhaps my lack of joyousness at United's win over a nemesis is muted by the obvious inevitability of the win after ten minutes, but if the game felt like a training session to me, perhaps, considering the absences current and the possible absences to come, that's precisely what United, playing Chicago's reserve squad, needed.

Oh, and Fred? You're going to be wonderful, but stop frucking dancing and SHOOT!

*

Goffblog player ratings:

Perkins 5; Namoff 6, Erpen 6, McTavish 6, Gros 6; Olsen 6.5, Carroll 6.5, Fred 7, Gomez 7; Dyachenko 6, Emilio 7.5. Subs: Moose 6, Addlery 5, Simms 5.

Didn't seem to me that Gomez had that strong a game. That rocket from Moose? Zowie! Show me more. And I thought it was Gros' best game at left back.