WASHINGTON -- As Wayne Rooney stood behind the ball in the 18th minute on Wednesday night, roughly 35 yards from goal, he pitted logic against intuition.
Intuition won out.
“I was aware it was a bit far out, and I was 50-50 whether to shoot,” Rooney said of the free kick opportunity. “I just fancied it. I just thought, ‘Give it a go and see what happens.’”
What followed was a right-footed thunderbolt worthy of winning any match, one that swerved around goalkeeper Alex Bono’s defensive wall and then nearly seared a hole in the top right corner of his net.
And it held up as the winner in D.C. United’s1-0 victory over Toronto FC Wednesday night, a victory that brought streaking D.C. within one victory of sealing a berth in the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs.
“I have to look at it again, [to see] how spectacular it was,” said United coach Ben Olsen after the game. “But in real time, it was pretty impressive.”
Said D.C. defender Nick DeLeon: “That finish was world class. I was smiling from ear to ear.”
The goal was Rooney’s 10th in 18 MLS appearances for D.C., which moved four points clear of the Eastern Conference playoff line and one point behind fifth-place Columbus Crew SC.
A victory against New York City FC on Sunday (or a Montreal loss to Toronto FC) would seal a fifth playoff berth in eight full seasons in charge for Olsen, as well as a dramatic comeback from the basement of the East table when Rooney arrived.
Yet the D.C. captain wanted to make sure his moment of brilliance didn’t gloss over one of his side’s more uneven performances during an eight-match unbeaten run that now includes four consecutive wins.
Toronto outpassed and outpossessed their hosts and matched them shot for shot, despite playing without Jozy Altidore, Sebastian Giovinco and Jonathan Osorio.
“I said it in the dressing room after the game, ‘Tonight wasn’t good enough.’ We won the game. We’re pleased obviously with the three points. At this stage in the season it’s obviously important, but we need to improve.
“We should be more confident and have more belief than we seemed to show tonight, with the run we’ve been on. Hopefully we can do that with the next game.”
Olsen held a slightly more positive outlook.
“I think today was a day when we needed ‘a moment’,” he said. “I thought we came up against, today, a pretty damn good team. I can’t believe their record is what it is. Their spacing caused us fits all night long.”
