D.C. United are set to play their eighth match of the 2021 MLS Regular Season against Inter Miami CF on Saturday, May 29 at 8 p.m. EST. D.C. United will look to rebound from back-to-back losses as they travel south to face Miami for just the second time in club history.
In their last match, United lost 1-0 to the Philadelphia Union on May 23 despite outshooting the Union 17-7 and controlling 52% of the possession throughout the match. Kacper Przybylko’s goal in first-half stoppage time proved to be too much for United to come back from despite controlling most of the match in their opponent’s attacking third. United created multiple goalscoring opportunities in the first half including in the 24th minute when Paul Arriola fired his free kick under the wall only for it to be saved by the Union’s goalkeeper with a sprawling effort. One minute later, Julian Gressel sent a cross to the back post where Drew Skundrich nearly redirected it into an empty net at the back post. Philadelphia scored the lone goal of the first half in the second minute of added time when Przybylko finished from in-close. United trailed 1-0 going into halftime.
United did all they could to get back in the match in the second half, outshooting Philadelphia 11-1 and controlling most of the possession in the Union’s final third. Kevin Paredes, who came on as a second half substitute for the second straight match, nearly found the equalizer when he beat his man at the top of the box and curled a shot that was narrowly saved by the Union goalkeeper. Paul Arriola got into a good position shortly after, but his shot was pulled just wide of the left post. Despite an onslaught of pressure in the final minutes of the match, United were unable to find the equalizing goal and the match finished 1-0 in favor of the Union.
This will be the second time these two sides face off in the history of the two clubs. The only other match they played was when D.C. United won 2-1 on March 7, 2020 at Audi Field. Yamil Asad converted a penalty in the 59th minute and Frédéric Brillant scored off a rebound from inside the box in the 61st minute to help United go from 1-0 down to 2-1 up within three minutes and take the lead in the second half. This match was only the second MLS Regular Season match Inter Miami played in their club’s history. United will look to remain undefeated against Inter Miami and earn three points on Saturday night.
D.C. United against Inter Miami CF on Saturday night at 8 p.m. EST will be broadcast on NBC Sports Washington+ and TeleXitos and can be streamed on www.dcunited.com.
