After putting forth a subpar first half effort against a clearly inferior opponent, D.C. United may find last night’s tie with expansion team Montreal Impact much more frustrating than either of their two losses this year. On a damp evening, a small crowd of 10,000 at RFK Stadium saw the hometown team struggle to a 1-1 draw, a troubling sign ahead of Sunday’s matchup against rival New York Red Bulls.
“It’s a disappointing tie for sure,” United head coach Ben Olsen said after the game. “They came with the right energy and we didn’t.”
Facing the second of three games in an eight-day span, Olsen modified his lineup, giving a few of his players some much needed rest. Olsen used Chris Pontius and Dwayne De Rosario up top, giving Hamdi Salihi a night off for the first time this season. Andy Najar made his return in place of Danny Cruz and Branko Boskovic found himself in the starting 11 for the first time since opening day.
Olsen’s new formula was a flop out of the gate. D.C. United looked sluggish and out of sync on both ends of the pitch. Najar showed rust, and Boskovic was particularly leggy. Both teams trudged through a largely uneventful first 45 minutes, neither side managing to string together any real number of passes or create anything in the way of a dangerous scoring opportunity.
What Montreal lacked in finesse and cohesiveness, though, they made up for in grit, and D.C. United often found itself outmuscled throughout the half.
“When we first came in here we knew they were gonna come in, fight and be nasty,” United defender Brandon McDonald said. “We were saying that we had to bring our bite as well, and you notice the first 20 minutes they were winning that battle. If we come out in those first 20 minutes and win that battle—they have no chance.”
United looked much better on the ball in the second half. Maicon Santos and Danny Cruz replaced Boskovic and Najar. Aided by their fresh legs, the black and red controlled possession and generated a number of chances, but couldn’t finish. De Rosario missed two clear scoring opportunities in a span of four minutes and seemed to lack the killer instinct that made him the league’s MVP last year. In the 68th minute, Montreal would make United pay, taking advantage of a Chris Korb defensive blunder and going up 1-0 on a Bernardo Corradi header.
United answered back just four minutes later, as Maicon Santos struck a hard, low shot past the outstretched arms of Impact keeper Donovan Ricketts. They very nearly took the lead in the 90th minute, but Santos was ruled offside and the goal was disallowed.
United lines up next against New York at RFK on Sunday. When I asked Olsen if it was safe to say there’d be more lineup changes in store for that match, he replied simply: “Yes. Absolutely.”
Team Notes: United’s supporter groups fell silent during the 12th minute of the match, observing a moment of silence for Barra Brava founding member Javier “Chico” Solares … Defender Emiliano Dudar will likely be available for Sunday’s match, as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury … The attendance of 10,135 on a damp, cold weeknight was the third-smallest crowd for a United league match in the past eight seasons.
