D.C. United kicked off the group stage of their 2015-2016 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League campaign on Wednesday evening, looking for a strong start against Panamanian side Árabe Unido.
The Black-and-Red did just that, relying on a late goal from midfielder Miguel Aguilar and some excellent goalkeeping by Andrew Dykstra to extract a 1-0 result at Estadio Maracaná in Panama City.
Aguilar’s 85th-minute goal came against the run of play and was a fine piece of teamwork. Argentine midfielder Facundo Coria collected the ball 25 yards from goal and fed second-half substitute Michael Farfan. He played a nifty back heel through for Aguilar, who fired a right-footed effort past the outstretched arms of Árabe ‘keeper Miguel Lloyd to earn the victory.
D.C. sent a mix of reserves and starters south of the border, a group led by assistant coach Chad Ashton – head coach Ben Olsen sat out while serving a suspension earned in last year’s edition of SCCL play.
Bolstered by a small but raucous home crowd, Árabe were the more dangerous side in the game’s opening quarter hour. A long-range blast by defender Rigoberto Niño forced Dykstra into action early on. The ‘keeper would call on his reflexes again in the 12th minute, expertly parrying away a close-range effort by forward Armando Polo.
Polo would test Dykstra again in the 27th from a nearly identical spot, with a nearly identical result.
United found a bit of a groove later in the half, but a pair of Chris Pontius attempts and another from Costa Rican forward Jairo Arrieta just before halftime didn’t seem to put Lloyd under any real duress.
D.C. nearly got the game’s opener in the 56th minute; Farfan slipped a ball through for Arrieta, who took a touch and tried to chip an onrushing Lloyd. He just barely managed to get a fingertip to the effort, though, steering it away from goal.
Dykstra would again be pressed into action later in the game, first in the 63rd minute when he charged 40 yards off his line to clear a breakaway from danger. Five minutes later, he smothered a José González effort from 18 yards out. A close-range shot by second-half sub Abdiel Arroyo trickled wide in the 70th, while midfielder Édgar Bárcenas missed a sitter from inside the six-yard box just a couple of minutes later.
With the match seemingly destined for a draw – a perfectly fine result for United but far from a satisfactory result for Árabe – Aguilar struck.
United will have little time to recover from the match, as the Eastern Conference leaders play host to the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday evening at RFK Stadium. The following Tuesday, they’ll get back to SCCL action when they welcome Jamaican side Montego Bay United FC in their second group-stage match.
