What a game. Really thought the 'Caps stepped it up in the 2nd half when they needed to and the perfect tonic for the team came with the Hassli winner. Koffie had a monster game (at least the 70 minutes that I saw), and even Chiumiento got an assist after he'd been dry for a while. A great win and super exciting for the home fans.
It's a real shame that I've only caught the last ten minutes of the game on TV. But damn today's game seem too be what we fans would love to see every match! Since I've only seen the highlights my judgement will be solely based on the clips. There is no doubt that Koffie is MOTM, never give up on tackle and earn possession of the ball, very strong physically w/ possession, his attempt on goal from afar was both on target and powerful! As for Omar, he is stunning and I am so happy that we have found our left winger, he is dominant, pacy and skillful. On the Beitasur foul, lol it was just idiotic, along with Chavez confronting the ref. Clearly Beitasur needed the foul to stop Omar. Some SJ fans were also complaining about Camilo diving on the Cronin incident, Camilo was attempting to dribble past Cronin at full pace, the guy stuck out his elbow and knocked Camilo down. As for SJ fan favorite Lenhart, he was diving all over the place. Espescially in the last ten minutes where i recall he did about 5-6 somersaults after going down to ground. Congrats Hassli finally opened up his account in MLS this season, we can tell the relief on his face during his celebration. Though his first attempt while Thorrington is wide open at goal was very wasteful, but we can let that goal since he scored us the winner. Chiumiento's assist is just magical, it was just pin point perfect. Given Hassli his age and style of play, he does very well when coming on to the pitch late game. I'd say he would have much more impact than in the starting line up. Have Camilo, Le Toux and Omar tire out the defense out, and then have Hassli to over power them at the end.
Man, did Opara make a bad play on that last play....first, he kept Hassli onside; second, he had a chance to divert the pass but all he did was deflect it right into Hassli's path. Ouch. After sleeping on it, I'm even happier for Hassli. First the Canadian Championship goal on Wednesday, now this. The man must feel so much relief, and that's a huge plus for the Caps in general. Koffie WAS MOTM. Just had a great game. The highlights don't show one sequence where he received the ball under pressure in the defensive third and dribbled/piroueted past 3 or 4 playes, holding them off at the same time, before releasing a long ball ahead to an open player. Just shows what kind of talent/skilll his guy has. Salgado has been a revelation. I have to admit, I was skeptical about this whole "Omar at left wing/forward" thing, but he's been fantastic out there and just seems to be getting better. That mazy run he went on the first half was a thing of beauty and I suspect we'll see a lot more of that before all is said and done. Just a great victory for the Caps. They'll be able to ride that one for a while.
I gotta say congrats to the Caps. Last night's game was clearly the best played of the day. Caps look like a real playoff contender.
I agree about Salgado. I was at the first game where he came on as a sub, and was surprised by how much physically bigger he looked than last yer. That extra 20 lbs. he gained shows. Last year, he was getting pushed around, now he's doing the pushing. His advance in just one year has been something else. Should be interesting to see where his development is this time next year. He'll still only be 19! I think the wide position suits him. Watch for his next development to be cutting the ball in for shots, a la Brek Shea. I read somewhere recently that Salgado's upside may be way bigger than Nagbe's, who was drafted in the same year with him. Nagbe's probably closer to his plateau given his age, and will never be as physically dominant.
Gotta love it when two teams are willing to stand toe-to-toe and go for it. San Jose did it to the Caps first time round, and now we returned the favour. None of this playing for ties crap. Love the fre-flowing attack of both teams.