D.C. United fell 1-0 to the New England Revolution in their second match of the 2021 MLS Regular Season. United found themselves on the losing end of a tightly contested match as an unlucky own goal early in the second half was the only thing separating the Black-and-Red from last season’s Eastern Conference finalist on the night.
Head Coach Hernán Losada elected to go with the same eleven players he started against New York City FC in their previous match. Chris Seitz started in net with a back three of Brendan Hines-Ike, Antonio Alfaro, and Frédéric Brillant in front of him. Julian Gressel and Joseph Mora started as United’s two wingbacks, and Junior Moreno, Russell Canouse, Yamil Asad, and Edison Flores player in the midfield with Erik Sorga up top as the lone striker for the Black-and-Red.
Despite a scrappy opening first half hour, United found their shape and were the better side for the last thirty minutes of the opening half. Julian Gressel looked the most dangerous player in the opening forty-five minutes for the Black-and-Red as he found himself in good positions out wide on the right, but couldn’t pick out the final ball. Neither team were able to find the breakthrough and the two sides went into the break tied 0-0.
Shortly after play resumed in the second half, New England took the lead following a dangerous ball into the box from right back Brandon Bye, which took an unlucky deflection off United center back Brendan Hines-Ike and into his own net. Despite an early goal in the second forty-five, both sides struggled to create. The best chance for an equalizer came in the 69th minute when Russell Canouse connected on a header from an Edison Flores corner, only to see his effort saved. Nigel Robertha, Adrien Perez, Kimarni Smith, and Homegrown Moses Nyeman all came on as substitutions as United pushed for the equalizer, but were unable to provide the breakthrough.
D.C. United’s next match will be against the San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park on Saturday, May 1 at 11:00 p.m. EST. Tune into NBC Washington, TeleXitos, and www.dcunited.com to watch the match.
