D.C. United made Bruce Arena’s first visit to RFK Stadium as coach of the New York Red Bulls a miserable one last night, handing the former United coach and his new team a 3-1 loss in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup in front of 8,637.
Arena, who guided United from 1996 to 1998 and won MLS titles in his first two seasons, saw the Red Bulls fall apart after holding the team with the best record in MLS to a 1-1 deadlock for an hour.
In his days with United, Arena coached the club to four titles in all competitions and had an impressive 61-35 record in MLS games.
Arena and his two assistants, former United stars Richie Williams and John Harkes, were greeted by a banner in the stands that read “WELCOME DC RETREADS.”
“We are disappointed because we really battled well in the first half,” said Harkes, a former United captain. “We don’t have the depth. D.C. has — [Jaime] Moreno and [Ben] Olsen coming off the bench, which is a luxury, and we just don’t have that depth.”
Jamil Walker scored twice and Josh Gros once, giving United its first win in five games.
The U.S. Open Cup is a single-elimination tournament open to all American amateur and pro teams. The Cup was founded in 1914, and this year’s winner takes home $100,000. United won the event under Arena in 1996 but has not appeared in the final since 1997. United reached the semifinal round in 2001 and 2003, losing both times.
United now will visit the Chicago Fire, a 2-1 winner over the New England Revolution last night, in a semifinal Sept. 6.
“We had a pretty good game, and it was very competitive, and the fitness level was good,” United coach Peter Nowak said. “You could see it in the players. We treat this competition with respect. New York gave us some problems in the first half but were better in the second.”
After early pressure from the Red Bulls, United regrouped and took the lead in the 37th minute . Domenic Mediate floated a high cross from the right flank, where midfielder Rod Dyachenko [-] making his first start for United — headed the ball down to Gros in the 6-yard box, who got the ball past Red Bulls goalie Tony Meola .
The Red Bulls responded four minutes later. Marvel Wynne II, whose father played baseball for three major league teams, fired a powerful shot from 30 yards out. Nick Rimando only could punch the ball clear, allowing Red Bulls captain Amado Guevara to fire the rebound past him for a 1-1 tie.
Nowak started a number of his reserve players, including Dyachenko, Mediate, Walker and Rimando. Key players Moreno, Olsen and Troy Perkins sat on the bench. Freddy Adu and Christian Gomez did not dress for the game. Gomez has been struggling with a leg strain. Meanwhile, Arena went mostly with his full roster.
At the hour-mark, Nowak brought in Olsen and Moreno.
Immediately following the substitutions, United took the lead. Walker, standing at the near post, headed home Alecko Eskandarian’s well-placed free kick to make it 2-1.
Walker got his second goal when he ran into the box, collected a pass from Olsen and fired a low shot past Meola, making it 3-1.
“This is a real confidence booster,” Walker said. “You work hard to get the chances. You are not going to score on all of them, but in the crucial moments you want to score the easy ones.”
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