Diallo starts, makes most of it

Tampa Bay clocks Columbus 3-1 as its Senegalese striker scores twice; Diaz Arce sits.

By RODNEY PAGE

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 14, 2000

TAMPA -- After studying all the game film, breaking down all the matchups and assessing each practice, Mutiny coach Tim Hankinson had to take an unscientific approach in selecting a starting forward for Saturday night's game against Columbus. He relied on a gut feeling.

Nice gut, coach.

Hankinson opted for Mamadou Diallo over Raul Diaz Arce, and Diallo responded with two goals as the Mutiny rolled over Columbus 3-1 in front of 10,212 at Raymond James Stadium. Midfielder Carlos Valderrama added two assists and leads Major League Soccer with 10.

The Mutiny (6-4) has won six straight home games and outscored opponents 20-5 in Tampa. It remains in first place in the Central Division with 18 points, two ahead of Chicago. Columbus (3-6-1) has lost four of five and is last in the Central.

"It's a very difficult situation," Hankinson said of the forwards. "After Mamadou saw his name on the board, he expressed mixed feelings to me. He felt badly for Raul because he respects him as a great player, but I told him he was given responsibility for this match, so take care of it."

Tampa Bay played without midfielder Steve Ralston for most of the match. Ralston went down in the 13th minute after being kicked in the right ankle. He has a deep bruise and was carried off. He may not be able to play Saturday at New York/New Jersey. Of a possible 138 regular-season games in just over four seasons with the Mutiny, Ralston has played in 132. He's the MLS career leader in minutes played with 11,469 and played 1,183 straight minutes before the injury.

"I didn't have any feeling in my foot when it first happened," Ralston said. "I thought it was broken. But it feels much better. I hope I can play next week."

Two minutes before the injury, Ralston made his fifth assist in four games. Ralston took a pass from Ritchie Kotschau just outside the 18-yard box. He turned and spotted Diallo on the left side and fed him a pass between defenders Ansil Elcock and Mike Duhaney.

Diallo shook both defenders and angled a left-footer from 10 yards. The shot just slipped inside the right corner to make it 1-0.

Diallo's second goal of the first half looked like a basketball play. In the 38th minute, Diallo posted up Duhaney and kept him on his back hip. Like a good point guard, Valderrama served a pass to Diallo's right.

Diallo needed only to turn toward the ball and then beat Mark Dougherty from 8 yards. He launched a shot just underneath a diving Dougherty to make it 2-0.

It was Diallo's fourth goal in 78 minutes. He has a team-high seven and is second in MLS..

"I need to play, I'm not a player who likes to sit the bench," Diallo said. "I know this is not an easy situation for Raul. I respect Raul as a player and I talked to him before the game. I told him I respect him very much. He told me he knew that because if I didn't, I wouldn't have talked to him."

The third goal was almost identical to the second. This time Dominic Kinnear had defender Todd Yeagley behind him in the 48th minute and only Dougherty in front of him.

Valderrama spotted the mismatch again and fed Kinnear with a pass to his left. Kinnear's shot from 15 yards found the left half of the goal. It was Kinnear's first goal since Aug.29, 1998.

"That pass went through the defender's legs," Kinnear said. "(Valderrama's) been the best for so many years, and that's why."

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