Olsen helps United beat former team

Ben Olsen made the decisive penalty kick against Nottingham Forest — his former team — and kept D.C. United undefeated against English clubs. After a 1-1 tie in regulation time, United won the penalty shootout 4-3 before 13,333 at RFK Stadium.

“It’s a friendly. It’s not a big deal,” Olsen said. “It’s just the way that [the penalty kick rotation] sets up.”

D.C. United improved to 5-0-1 against English teams, with the only blemish a tie against Leeds in 1997.

Although this was an exhibition, United accomplished something early in the match it hasn’t been able to do in nearly two years — score off a corner kick. In the ninth minute, newly acquired defender Ezra Hendrickson slipped unmarked into the box, rose above everybody and delivered his glancing header inside the right post to beat Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Paul Gerrard, who was off his line trying to deflect Ernie Stewart’s service.

The last time United scored off a corner kick in a Major League Soccer game was Aug. 31, 2002, when Marco Etcheverry found Eddie Pope in the 84th minute in a 4-2 win over the San Jose Earthquakes at RFK.

Nottingham Forest, an English First Division club, tied the game on a 30-foot left-footed blast by star midfielder Andy Reid that United goalkeeper Nick Rimando probably should have saved.

Nottingham Forest forward Gareth Taylor received a ball outside the 18-yard box and calmly put a short ball into space on the left for Reid. With no United players in the vicinity, Reid lashed a wicked, low-driving shot into the right corner of the net that left Rimando frozen in his tracks in the 32nd minute.

United’s Freddy Adu played the entire 90 minutes last night. He started at forward and turned in one of his most promising games, taking most of the corner kicks and looking dangerous in the box on numerous occasions. It took a brilliant save by Nottingham Forest backup goalkeeper Darren Ward in the 66th minute to deny Adu from close range.

United forward Santino Quaranta made his season debut for United in the 66th minute when he replaced midfielder Dema Kovalenko. Quaranta had been out all season because of abdominal surgery.

Note — The remnants of the defunct Washington Freedom destroyed the Nottingham Forest Ladies club 8-0 in the first game of last night’s doubleheader. Midfielder Ali Krieger, who just completed her freshman season at Penn State and was named Big Ten freshman of the year, was a guest player for the Freedom and scored a hat trick in what may have been the last professional women’s soccer game at RFK. Only eight Freedom players from their 2003 Founders Cup championship team played. At halftime of the United game, a banner was unfurled on RFK’s south wall commemorating the Freedom’s championship.