The streak is dead.
For the first time since August of last year, D.C. United went out and won an MLS league match, beating the New England Revolution 2-0 at RFK Stadium. The result snapped what had been a 15-game winless streak, the longest in team history and damn near the longest in the history of Major League Soccer.
“Yeah, it’s a relief,” United head coach Ben Olsen told DCist after the match. “It was just important for us to move forward in our play, but also get the win. It feels good. It feels good for a lot of those new guys and in particular some of those old guys as we got a little bit of a demon off our back, and we can move forward now.”
Their victory wasn’t without a little luck.
After a relatively uneventful first half, D.C. got their opener on a New England own goal. Just minutes before halftime, United left back Christian Fernandez came forward and sent a driven cross in from the end line. Revolution center back — and 2013 MLS defensive player of the year — Jose Goncalves was well-positioned to clear the ball from danger, yet somehow managed to volley the ball into his own net from the top of the six yard box.
Goncalves wasn’t the only unexpected contributor. After regular starter Bill Hamid returned from U.S. National Team duty with a sore foot, backup ‘keeper Andrew Dykstra was forced into duty — his first MLS start in nearly three and a half years. Dykstra was solid, albeit untested. The Revolution managed but a single shot on goal in the entire match, a first-half attempt which Dykstra parried away from goal.
D.C.’s second goal came in second-half stoppage time, from another unlikely figure. United forward Fabian Espindola played a 40-yard cross over a stretched Revolution backline. The ball hit second half substitute Chris Rolfe, playing his first game for D.C. after being acquired in a mid-week trade with the Chicago Fire, in stride. Rolfe made no mistake, striking a powerful shot at New England goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth, who couldn’t quite hang on to the attempt.
“To be honest, just finally winning for these guys, who have been working hard, for us to win, that’s the best feeling,” a jubilant Rolfe told the media assembled at his locker after the match. “Of course for me to be able to get a goal, it will help my confidence and hopefully it will help [the team’s] belief in me and what I can do to help the them.”
The 2-0 result wasn’t completely unexpected. After a dreadful performance in their season opener, United have steadily improved over their past three matches, finally managing to break through. Espindola and midfielder Nick DeLeon both had excellent games, a heartening sign after a series of shaky matches. Defensively, the center back pairing of Bobby Boswell and Jeff Parke has proven to be a solid one, perhaps quelling the talk, for now, that the veteran duo aren’t pacy enough to deal with some of MLS’ more fleet-footed attackers.
There are, however, many question marks. Not the smallest of which is the performance of Eddie Johnson, brought in during the off-season to be United’s difference maker. Fresh off a lively performance on Wednesday night in the USMNT’s 2-2 draw against Mexico, Johnson positioned himself well on Saturday. The final ball, however, simply wasn’t there. It was the latest in a series of progressively more concerning performances for Johnson.
But for now, let us rejoice. And let us hope that this is the first of many victories for D.C. United. Because very few of us can handle another 2013.
