D.C. United fell 3-2 to the New England Revolution in their 20th match of the 2021 Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season. United found an early goal through Paul Arriola, but New England’s three second half goals proved to be too much as the Black-and-Red lost a hard-fought match on the road.
D.C. United started with Jon Kempin in net and Frédéric Brillant, Steve Birnbaum and Chris Odoi-Atsem as the back three with Griffin Yow and Joseph Mora playing as the two wingbacks. Felipe Martins, Drew Skundrich, and Yamil Asad started as the three in midfield and Edison Flores and Paul Arriola were partnered up top for the Black-and-Red.
D.C. United began the game on the attack and found a goal in the 10th minute. Edison Flores picked up the ball from a New England defender inside his own half and ran towards the penalty box before cleverly playing in Paul Arriola who finished into the bottom right corner. Shortly after, Felipe picked up the ball in a similar spot, only to see his curled effort parried away by the New England goalkeeper. Jon Kempin made his best save of the half in the 27th minute when he dove in front of a cross to deny the Revs from leveling the score. An organized United went into the break leading 1-0.
The New England Revolution tied the match in the 49th minute when Tommy McNamara found the top corner from the edge of the box. Griffin Yow nearly replied with a goal shortly after, but his shot was saved after he beat a defender down the right side of the box. New England took the lead in the 53rd minute when a cross to the back post was volleyed home by Tajon Buchanan. Frédéric Brillant kept the deficit at one in the 69th minute when he cleared a ball just before crossing over the goal line. On the ensuing attack, Yordy Reyna had a shot from outside the box tipped just over the goal by the New England goalkeeper.
In the 73rd minute, Arnor Trastason received his second yellow card of the match, forcing the Revolution to play with a man disadvantage for the remainder of the match. As United pushed forward for the equalizer the hosts scored on a counterattack in the 85th minute through Dejuan Jones. D.C. United did find their second of the night to cut the lead down to one in the sixth minute of added time when Ramon Abila scored his first goal for the club, rocketing one into the top left corner with his left foot. A back-and-forth ninety minutes at Gillette ended with New England coming out on-top 3-2, despite D.C. United’s edge in shots and shots on goal.
D.C. United will return to Audi Field for their next match against Atlanta United on Saturday, August 21 at 8:00 PM ET. Tune into NBC Sports Washington, TeleXitos, and www.dcunited.com to watch the match.
