For a minute on Wednesday night, it looked as if D.C. United might need a minor miracle to extract a result out of their matchup with the Columbus Crew.
Already bruised and battered—missing the likes of regular starters like Luis Silva and Taylor Kemp to injury and Chris Rolfe to suspension—United were dealt even more bad news just before kickoff, when it became apparent that Chris Korb, Chris Pontius, and first-choice ‘keeper Bill Hamid would all miss the match with knocks of their own.
Add an in-form Chicago side that, after a dreadful start, had looked damn near cohesive during the three-game unbeaten streak they were riding coming into Wednesday night’s encounter, and you had a recipe for disaster.
None of that seemed to matter. Just as they’ve been doing all year, United managed to extract a result—riding a pair of goals from Jairo Arrieta and a Conor Doyle insurance tally to a 3-1, come-from-behind victory over the Fire.
The win stretches D.C.’s home unbeaten run to 20 games—16 wins and 4 draws—besting the previous franchise record.
Highlights:
The Good: Jairo Arrieta & Fabian Espindola. Arrieta, the Costa Rican forward who just last year was tossed aside by Columbus like an old, half-eaten glass of ceviche, was superb on Wednesday and found an ideal compliment in Espindola.
The two combined on United’s second-half equalizer, Espindola swinging in a dangerous corner kick and Arrieta rising above two defenders to redirect the service perfectly. Arrieta, who fell out of favor last year with Columbus head coach Gregg Berhalter and was left unprotected at year’s end, was quick to heap praise on his teammates and coaches after the match, and United head coach Ben Olsen was quick to (jokingly) heap praise on himself. Asked what he chalks Arrieta’s run of form up to, the affable head coach didn’t hesitate in his answer.
“Good coaching.”
The Bad: United’s lax first half mentality. Much of this can be chalked up to a rag-tag lineup—things were so meager on the defensive side that US national team prospect Steve Birnbaum, who’s never played a minute at outside back in his professional or college career, got the nod at left back. Fabian Espindola, Luis Silva, Davy Arnaud—they all sat during the first half, while Chris Rolfe—arguably the team’s most dynamic offensive weapon at this point in the year—missed the game while serving a suspension.
The result was a bit predictable—United struggled in possession and were undone easily by a Chicago press, though even the Fire’s defending seemed to lack urgency. The insertion of Espindola—and a fiery half-time pep talk by Olsen—made all the difference, as United were simply a different team after the break.
The Rest: Hamid, Korb, and Pontius are all nursing minor injuries, Olsen said, and should be back sooner than later. Hamid seems the most banged up: Olsen implied that the USMNT ‘keeper is suffering from several minor knocks that he’s been pushing through in recent games, and it was best to give him the night off … United—dead last in the league in attendance—drew another sub-par crowd on Wednesday, an announced 10,000 or so which in reality looked a bit closer to 5k … In just 12 appearances, Arrieta has equaled his scoring total from all of last year with Columbus at five goals—three more goals will equal his output from the past two campaigns combined … United next face Toronto FC, who they’ll welcome to RFK stadium this Saturday at 7PM. Though some fans may be disappointed, surely DCU will be thrilled to face a TFC team that lacks Jozy Altidore (injury) and Michael Bradley (USMNT duty.)
