D.C. United lost 3-1 to Columbus Crew SC at Historic Crew Stadium in their fourth match of the 2021 Major League Soccer Regular Season. Ola Kamara’s first goal of the season late in the second half was not enough to complete the comeback as the Black-and-Red lost on the road to the reigning MLS Cup Champions.
D.C. United were forced into a number of changes to the starting 11 due to the injuries the squad is currently facing. Chris Seitz started in net with Antonio Alfaro, Frédéric Brillant, and Andy Najar as the back three and Adrien Perez and Julian Gressel starting as the two wingbacks. Júnior Moreno, Moses Nyeman, Yamil Asad, and Edison Flores started in the midfield and Kimarni Smith started up top for the Black-and-Red.
D.C. United started the match well and were able to put pressure on the Columbus defense from the opening whistle. Júnior Moreno and Moses Nyeman controlled the early portions of the game from the midfield and helped push the team forward. Columbus scored the opening goal of the match in the 20th minute off a direct free kick placed into the left corner by Lucas Zelarayan. The remainder of the first half was tightly contested with neither team able to create many chances. D.C. United went into halftime down 1-0.
Columbus took a 2-0 lead when a shot by Artur was saved by Chris Seitz but directly into the path of Frédéric Brillant, whose unlucky touch bounced into his own net. United fought back for the remainder of the match and were rewarded for their efforts in the 82nd minute when substitute Ola Kamara, in his first appearance of the season, finished past the goalkeeper with this left foot in the 82nd minute after a perfect pass by Edison Flores gave him space in the box. D.C. United continued to battle until the last whistle but were unable to come up with the equalizing goal. Columbus tacked on one last goal at the end to make it a 3-1 final score.
D.C. United’s will return to Audi Field for their next match against Chicago Fire FC on Thursday, May 13 at 8 p.m. EST. Tune into NBC Sports Washington, TeleXitos, and www.dcunited.com to watch the match.
