In his return to D.C. United’s starting lineup on Tuesday, Santino Quaranta demonstrated how time off due to injury causes subtle setbacks for even the most elite soccer player.

“This game’s funny because I was out for a couple weeks, and you have to catch up mentally,” said Quaranta.

Thrust into a central playmaking role, he had a couple of frustrating first-half misses before getting his touch right to score the game-winner three minutes after halftime in United’s 3-1 win over New England in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals.

“I thought the second half — I talked to [head coach] Tommy [Soehn] at halftime — I just slowed the game down a little bit, started thinking and just relaxing a little bit,” said Quaranta, who could play the same position for United (8-9-1, 25 points) against the Fire (9-5-5, 32 points), unless Marcelo Gallardo makes his long-awaited return after double hernia surgery.

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D.C. also is still working to reintegrate defenders Gonzalo Peralta and Gonzalo Martinez, and recently acquired goalkeeper Louis Crayton could also make his first appearance if his official paperwork is completed in time.

“We got a lot of guys getting back, and we showed rust,” said Soehn after the win over the Revolution. “We didn’t show the qualities that we do when we’re in top shape of knocking the ball around and exposing space. We found that a little bit more as the game wore on.”

More than two months remain in the regular season, but United’s margin for error is slim, as it’s currently tied with three teams for fourth place in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference.

U.S. forward Brian McBride was expected to train with Chicago today after returning from the Olympics in China, and he could make his Fire debut against United on Saturday.