In their first match of the 2022 Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season D.C. United won 3-0 against Charlotte FC in their home opener. The Black-and-Red started the season with a victory and a clean sheet in front of their home crowd at Audi Field.
The game opened up for the Black-and-Red in the 30th minute when left-back Brad Smith made a run down the left flank and his cross was cleared, but only to the feet of Moses Nyeman, who played right-back, Andy Najar. With space, Najar took the shot, forcing goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina to push the ball over the crossbar.
In the 37th minute, Griffin Yow's shot hit the hand of a Charlotte FC player in the box, resulting in a penalty for D.C. United. The Ecuadorian international, Michael Estrada, stepped up to the spot to take it and converted it to give the Black-and-Red a 1-0 lead.
Five minutes into first-half stoppage time, Estrada found himself wide open at the top of the box. The forward took a powerful strike that deflected off the back of Charlotte defender, Christian Fuchs, to beat Kahlina for his second goal of the night. D.C. United headed into the half with a 2-0 lead.
In the 65th minute, D.C. United won a corner kick and it was cleared by Charlotte, but only as far as the feet of second-half substitute Sofiane Djeffal who played it to Yow. Yow found Steven Birnbaum, who played it wide to Gressel. Gressel got a second cross in and Kahlina pushed it out, but it bounced off second half substitute Ola Kamara who scored on his first touch of the match for the 3-0 win.
The Black-and-Red finished the game strong, and Hamid earned another clean sheet after denying Charlotte in the last minute of regular time. United ended the game with a 3-0 win over Charlotte FC in their first MLS game of 2022.
D.C. United will travel to TQL Stadium to face off against FC Cincinnati on Saturday, March 5, with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. ET. Tune into NBC Sports Washington Plus, TeleXitos, and www.dcunited.com to watch the match.
