Is this real life?

Just a week after snapping a club record 15-game winless streak, D.C. United took the field against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday evening and did something else they hadn’t done in quite a while: win two in a row.

United midfielder Davy Arnaud’s first-half strike would be enough for D.C. They’d ride that goal to a 1-0 victory, relying on a bit of luck and a solid performance by goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra, once again filling in for an injured Bill Hamid, to secure the victory.

New York’s inability to hit the side of a barn in the second half, that also helped quite a bit.

“It was a good old-fashioned grind out, with a little luck on the side,” United head coach Ben Olsen told DCist after the match. “But we talked about this. We said, ‘Until we are clicking everywhere around the field and really have our identity of who we are, we’ve got to find a way to get points until that happens,’ and I think we did that tonight.”

“They had a bunch of chances, they were very good. They were a better team,” added Olsen.

D.C. didn’t waste any time getting on the board. In the fourth minute, a Fabian Espindola corner kick found center back Bobby Boswell at the near side of the box. Boswell — who found himself involved in a corner-kick goal for the second time in 2014 — rose above former Arsenal and French national team striker Thierry Henry, playing a glancing header to the far post. Arnaud was right there to finish, his diving header eluding the grasp of New York ‘keeper Luis Robles.

“You know, it’s funny,” Arnaud reflected after the match. “[United assistant coach] Chad Ashton talked earlier in the week about that run at the back post. A lot of times people don’t get there, and a lot of times the ball goes right there. And so he told me to go there and the first corner there it is, right there.”

New York would wake up about 15 minutes into the second half, but couldn’t seem to put anything on frame. A pair of headers from Henry sailed high and wide, while fellow frenchman Peguy Luyindula’s effort minutes later would find the post. Lloyd Sam, Bradley Wright-Phillips and Eric Alexander’s efforts would all go wanting. Even United fullback Cristian got in on the act, his headed clearance coming dangerously close to an own goal.

“We tried to come back,” Henry told the media assembled at his locker after the match. “I thought we dominated the game around 30 minutes into [it], but it wasn’t enough to win. After 30 minutes, we passed the ball well and we created chances, sometimes we were a bit unlucky. I don’t think we deserved to lose, but full credit to D.C. They won the game.”

D.C. will next travel to Columbus to face the crew, the first time they’ve visited Crew Stadium since the scoreboard nearly exploded on their last visit. DCist will be there, as we were last time. We’ll leave the pyrotechnics at home this go-around.

United players and staff watch as the stadium scoreboard goes up in flames. (photo by Pablo Maurer)