United players and staff watch as the stadium scoreboard goes up in flames.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — D.C. United traveled to Columbus on Saturday evening, dropping its match against the Crew 3-0 on a bizarre evening that will be remembered more for what happened before the game than what happened during it.

Midway through the pre-game warm-ups, the speaker cabinet above the scoreboard at the south end of Crew Stadium erupted into flames. Team officials weren’t particularly eager to speculate on the source of the blaze, but told those in attendance that they suspected a “speaker malfunction,” a diagnosis that would make even Fire Marshall Bill proud. The actual fire marshal will be along sometime on Monday to take a proper look at things.

(And in case you wanted to make the joke, no, The Ohio Players’ “Fire” wasn’t blaring over the public-address system when it burst into flames.)

The blaze also afforded the Crew’s social media team the opportunity to craft one of the most nonchalant tweets in the history of the 140-character medium:

D.C. United fans, of course, are used to this sort of stadium-based adversity. From occasional raccoon sightings and power outages to falling chunks of concrete, RFK Stadium is certainly showing its age these days. To the best of my knowledge, though, nothing there has ever burst into flames.

And then there was the game, which was arguably even more of a disaster. United did manage to create some chances—their 21 shots (9 of them on frame) was their highest total to date in a season that’s seen them average about a third of that. But the black and red’s finishing woes would eventually get the best of them; both Lionard Pajoy and Kyle Porter found the woodwork, and Perry Kitchen had a goal waved off that very clearly should have counted.

Columbus, on the other hand, converted the only three shots on goal it had.

In the end, United was outdone not only by its lack of finishing, but by a particularly poor performance by one particular defender.

The Hero: There was no hero for United on Saturday night, so let’s just give this one to the Columbus Fire Department and call it a day. Good job, boys.

The Goat: Brandon McDonald. McDonald’s play in the first half was atrocious. More than anyone else on the pitch, he was to blame for Columbus’ opening strike, nearly putting Crew forward Jairo Arrieta in alone on goal and then losing his mark again on the very same play. Columbus also owes McDonald for fouling Arrieta in the box late in the first half, which led to the Crew’s third goal (on a penalty kick).

McDonald’s poor performance wasn’t lost on United Head Coach Ben Olsen, who subbed the normally reliable central defender out at halftime. “I thought defensively, almost everyone was pretty tuned in,” a visibly frustrated Olsen said after the match. “We had one guy that had a bad night.”

Olsen has long preached “individual accountability,” and has in the past sat other players when they’ve performed poorly—he sat outside back Daniel Woolard for several games after pulling him at halftime in United’s season opener against Houston. Though some are speculating that McDonald will get some time off for his performance on Saturday evening, there are other factors at play here.

McDonald has been United’s most consistent defensive performer this year, and it’s unlikely that he would sit for one bad (OK, terrible) performance, especially given United’s present injury woes. On the accountability front, BMac was more than willing to own up to his mistakes after the match, telling reporters that he felt he’d let his teammates down.

“You take away those three goals,” he said, “and you come away from here with a point. It’s frustrating and very disappointing because I consider myself to be one of the leaders on this team, and to do something like that, it’s not acceptable.”

Moment of the Match: Perry Kitchen’s disallowed goal in the 23rd minute. Make no mistake, this was a terrible call. United had players in an offside position, but none of them were even remotely involved in the play. The black and red never really bounced back, and there was a growing sense of frustration among United’s players as the match wore on.

The Rest: Crew officials said they had no idea as to the extent of the damage the fire did to the stadium’s 15-year-old scoreboard, but given the extent of the fire and the massive amount of water used to extinguish it, they might be due for a new unit. Daktronics, the manufacturer of the board, will be along on Monday to help assess the damage … United’s supporters—some 150 of them made the trip to Columbus—were seated just east of the scoreboard, and were relocated to other sections of the stadium. (The south end was evacuated after the blaze.) … One theory on who started the blaze.

Filed Under: ben olsen, Brandon McDonald, Columbus Crew, d.c. united, fire,