United focused on moving forward
D.C. looks to get in Champions League win column Oct. 1
"We've dug ourselves a hole, especially with the loss at home," Soehn said, referring to United's 2-0 loss to Saprissa at RFK Stadium last week. "Obviously, Marathon still has to come play us, which will also be a tough environment for them. But, we've dug ourselves a hole. They're obviously sitting in a much better position."
With maximum points out of two home games at one of the region's toughest venues, CD Marathon is sitting pretty atop Group A. D.C. United will face a must-win next Wednesday at home against Cruz Azul, which is tied for second with Saprissa of Costa Rica.
"It is very difficult -- two games we have lost," Luciano Emilio said. "But, next Wednesday we need to start to win. It's a home game and I think this is the time the team has to start to win, because if we don't win Wednesday then the situation will be very bad for us."
D.C. was without Devon McTavish, who was suspended for being sent off against Saprissa on the opening matchday, as well as captain Jaime Moreno, who remained in Washington with a swollen knee, and Marcelo Gallardo, who was out with an adductor strain.
"Well, missing two guys like that obviously it takes a lot away from our possession game, which we've been accustomed to playing," Soehn said. "When you have two guys like that on the field it makes players like Ivan [Guerrero] and Fred and Luciano so much more effective. So, it's a big loss for us, but that's the reality of sports and we have to deal with what we have."
Rookie Craig Thompson got the start at right back and made a key defensive save, clearing Saul Martinez's attempt off the line onto the post and out of danger in the 25th minute.
"We were playing away so we wanted to come in with a little more of a defensive mindset and we did that and in the first half it worked pretty well," Thompson said. "We came out 0-0."
The second half, though, was a different story. Milton Nunez scored an opportunistic goal after defender Gonzalo Martinez tackled the ball away from Marvin Antonio Chavez at the top of the 18-yard box. Nunez took a clever touch to avoid a sliding Marc Burch and buried the ball inside the far post in the 67th minute.
"We came to play well tonight and it was very difficult for us," Emilio said. "We worked very hard for the first 45 minutes, played good defensively, but after that it was very difficult."
Louis Crayton was forced to make back-to-back saves in the 72nd minute to keep his team in the game, but he wasn't able to stop Erick Norales' header off a free kick 11 minutes later to seal Marathon's victory.
"We've watched them and we knew they were good on the counterattack," Soehn said. "We turned over the ball in bad spots and that's what generated their chances. But, to their credit they finished their chances -- which is part of the game."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
