D12 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20 , 2019
At the other end, Quentin
Westberg made three consecu-
tive saves on Rooney. Later,
Kamara had a one-on-one but
failed to beat Westberg, who
used his hip to deflect what
should have been the equalizer.
Hope was running out before
Rodríguez forced extra time — a
30-minute reprieve that turned
into a Canadian nightmare for
United.
“We just got punched in the
face,” Birnbaum said. “It’s devas-
tating.”
And with it, Rooney marked
his short-lived stay in MLS.
“He gave a lot to the organiza-
tion,” Olsen said. “From a team
standpoint, on the field, some
wonderful moments. He was a
great teammate. He was good to
our fans and appreciative of the
support. It was a joy to work
with him.”
[email protected]wide. Instead, he knocked the
ball forward, leaving it in the
danger zone for Delgado to snap
into the net from six yards.
The goal ended United’s shut-
out streak at 536 minutes, the
longest in the league this year.
United’s problems intensified
late in the first half when Felipe
Martins, whose summer arrival
and hearty c ontributions altered
the midfield dynamic, departed
with a groin injury. He walked
off the field slowly, his shirt
pulled over his face to hide his
emotions. Olsen consoled him
with a hug.
Facing a deficit, Olsen
changed the look instead of
making a straight-up switch. He
inserted Kamara and made mul-
tiple positional moves.
After intermission, To ronto
continued to set the terms,
pushing for the backbreaking
goal.United, the No. 5 seed, has not
won a playoff game since 2015.
Fourth-seeded To ronto ad-
vanced to play at New York City
FC on Wednesday in a confer-
ence semifinal.
United conceded possession
in the first half. When D.C. did
claim the ball, it did not do much
with it. Connections were off,
the buildup was slow, and four
corner kicks did not yield any
serious threats.
To ronto went ahead when
Hamid failed to properly handle
Alejandro Pozuelo’s 25-yard bid.
A finalist for MLS goalkeeper of
the year and the co-leader in
shutouts, Hamid has made few
mistakes this season. And given
Hamid’s vast experience, United
did not expect him, of all play-
ers, to slip up.
But on this sequence, with the
shot skipping toward him, he
neither corralled it nor pushed it“He turned our team around
completely,” defender Steven
Birnbaum said. “He has just
been a great presence for us.
We’ve been lucky to have him.”
Rooney did have three out-
standing chances to score in the
second half — Ola Kamara had
one as well — but United did not
pull even until Lucas
Rodríguez’s shocking goal in
stoppage time.
To ronto had gone ahead in the
32nd minute when Marco Delga-
do capitalized on goalkeeper Bill
Hamid’s error and scored from
close range.
With time melting away,
though, Rooney served a corner
kick. Frédéric Brillant won the
header. Paul Arriola’s stab was
unsuccessful. On the back side,
Rodríguez knocked it in, silenc-
ing an announced crowd of
25,331 that was preparing to
party.
United’s o ptimism did not last
long. Three minutes into extra
time, substitute Richie Laryea
beat Hamid from a tight angle.
Two minutes later, Jonathan Os-
orio tapped in from the door-
step. Osorio scored on a sublime
one-timer from the top of the
box in the 103rd minute, and
former United player Nick DeLe-
on added a sensational goal
before the extra-time break.
United allowed more goals in
that stretch than in the previous
six matches combined.
“You go out with a lot of
momentum,” Arriola said. “It’s
unfortunate we give up a goal so
early” i n extra time.
Having thrown so many at-
tacking players into the effort to
tie it, United did not have the
proper personnel to carry it
through another 30 minutes.
Nonetheless, Olsen said:
“We’re pros. We should have a
better mentality and make bet-
ter plays.”
UNITED FROM D1
Rooney’s
tenure
concludes
with loss
FRANK GUNN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wayne Rooney was unable to beat Toronto goalkeeper Quentin Westberg in his final MLS match.ASSOCIATED PRESSJordan Morris scored in the
113th minute to complete a hat
trick in the Seattle Sounders’ 4-3
extra-time victory over visiting FC
Dallas on Saturday in the first
round of the MLS playoffs.
Twice, the Sounders had the
lead only to see Dallas come back
and tie. Ruidiaz scored in the
18th minute and Morris in the
22nd to put Seattle in front 2-0.
Ruidiaz’s goal was his 12th and
ended a six-game scoring
drought. He had not scored since
he tallied twice in a 4-3 victory
against t he Los Angeles Galaxy on
Sept. 1.
The Sounders advanced to the
West semifinals against either
No. 3 seed Real Salt Lake or No. 6
Portland....
Franco Escobar’s goal in the
69th minute broke a scoreless
match, and host Atlanta United
(19-12-4) made it hold up for a 1-0
victory over the New England
Revolution in an opening-round
game of the MLS playoffs.
The defending champs entered
the playoffs as the second seed in
the Eastern Conference and ad-
vanced to play the winner of Sun-
day’s contest between the third-
seeded Philadelphia Union and
sixth-seeded New York Red Bulls.
l ENGLAND: Tottenham’s
struggles in the Premier League
showed no signs of ending as
Spurs needed a late equalizer just
to earn a 1-1 home draw against
last-place Watford.
The debate around VAR prob-
ably will go on as well after the
video-replay system sparked
more confusion and controversy.
Dele Alli’s late equalizer for
To ttenham was allowed to stand
after a VAR check even though the
midfielder seemed to use his arm
to control the ball before slotting
home in the 86th minute.
Burnley Manager Sean Dyche
also was left fuming after VAR
overturned a late equalizer f or his
team against Leicester, whichcame from behind to win, 2-1.
Wolverhampton, meanwhile,
had two goals disallowed by VAR
in the first half of a 1-1 draw by
Southampton at home.
Manchester City also had a
strong penalty appeal denied by
VAR, but that didn’t stop the de-
fending champion from easing to
a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace.
Chelsea joined Leicester in
moving into the top four by beat-
ing Newcastle, 1-0, at home for its
fifth straight win in all competi-
tions.l (^) GERMANY: Augsburg sub-
stitute Alfred F innbogason scored
in injury time to hold visiting
Bayern Munich to a 2-2 draw and
prevent the German champion
from reclaiming the top spot in
the Bundesliga.
Elsewhere, Gladbach lost, 1-0,
at Borussia Dortmund, which
held on to end a run of three
consecutive 2-2 draws to move
level on 15 points w ith B ayern and
Leipzig.
Gladbach still leads with
16 points, ahead of Wolfsburg on
goal differential, after eight
games. Wolfsburg, the only un-
beaten team remaining in the
league, fought back to earn a 1-1
draw with Leipzig.
l ITALY: A fter all these years —
and all those goals — Cristiano
Ronaldo’s trademark step-over
move remains as effective as ever.
The latest victim was Bologna
defender Mattia Bani, who was
fooled by the five-time Ballon d’Or
winner for Juventus’s opening
goal in a 2-1 win at home.
Juventus moved four points
ahead of second-place Inter Mi-
lan, which visits Sassuolo on Sun-
day. Elsewhere, Arkadiusz Milik
broke out of a scoring drought
with a brace as Napoli beat visit-
ing Hellas Verona, 2-0.
l SPAIN: Antoine Griezmann
has started clicking in Barcelona’s
attack.
The French forward had strug-
gled to get in sync with new star
teammates Lionel Messi and Luis
Suárez before everything fell into
place in a 3-0 victory at Eibar,
pushing Barcelona to the top of
the standings after a defeat by
Real Madrid.
SOCCER ROUNDUP
Morris scores hat trick
to lift Seattle into semis
SOUNDERS 4,
FC DALLAS 3 (ET)
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