We didn’t know a whole lot about D.C. United’s 2016 team heading into their Saturday afternoon encounter with the New England Revolution. We still don’t.
D.C. breezed by the Revs, riding a PK strike from Lamar Neagle and second-half tallies from Alvaro Saborio and Luciano Acosta to a 3-0 shutout. It was the latest entry into a head-scratching 2016 campaign—in their two wins, United have scored seven goals an allowed none; in their other matches, they’ve only found the back of the net three times and have allowed seven.
In any case, let’s take a look at the highlights:
The Good: Luciano Acosta. United fans have been clamoring to see more of the diminutive Argentine, who was billed as United’s premiere off-season acquisition. But United head coach Ben Olsen has been hesitant to incorporate the former Boca Juniors attacker into his starting plans, choosing instead to keep other key pieces in place.
After Saturday’s display, it’s time for that to change. Mid-way through the second half, “Lucho” scored what may likely end up being United’s goal of the year, an audacious, perfectly weighted chip from 25 yards out. Take a look:
Olsen spent his Saturday roaming the mezzanine at RFK, suspended for the match (for stepping onto the field while retrieving a stray ball). In his stead, assistant coach Chad Ashton took the reigns, and after the match, he couldn’t help but marvel at the strike.
“That’s what he does,” Ashton told DCist. “That’s why he’s here. He’s got a lot of magic in him. I still think he’s got to pick and choose the right times to do it, but you’ve seen already in the little glimpses that he’s played that he can pull off the big-time play and it was very timely for us [today].”
The Bad:Fabian Espindola. There’s no arguing that Espindola has been a key contributor for United over the past two years. But he’s struggled to build chemistry this year with the midfield behind him and lacks the dynamic he had last year with fellow attacker Chris Rolfe.
Espindola is the kind of guy that Olsen will always want in the lineup. But many of the things that make him so dangerous—his unpredictability in the final third, his ability to drift wide or drop deeper to find the ball—also make him very difficult to play with. Acosta, on the other hand, is fairly easy to peg: he does well when paired with a true number nine, a target forward like Saborio.
It puts Olsen in a tricky spot. If he incorporates Acosta, he almost has to consider pushing Saborio’s minutes as well. But Olsen seems to favor Saborio off the bench, and is he even fit to go 90 minutes? Who knows.
The Rest: Another week, another protest for the District Ultras, who continue to sit the first half of United’s home matches out to protest the treatment of one of their members. Meetings with the club are scheduled for next week.
D.C.’s first-choice goalkeeper, Bill Hamid, seems to be drawing closer to an eventual return, if his Instagram is any indication.
And Saturday marked the 20th anniversary of United’s first home match, a 1996 encounter with the Los Angeles Galaxy. The club marked the occasion with a few “throwback” items on Saturday, but I’m going to throw it back even further here. Here’s my favorite photo of the stadium, one of Washington Senators owner Pete Quesada overseeing construction of the joint in 1961:
(Photo by Joe Heiberger, courtesy of The Washington Post)
