Wayne Rooney looked up toward Orlando City SC’s goal and saw goalkeeper Brian Rowe off of his line.
What did D.C. United’s forward do?
He decided to take the shot from about 65-70 yards.
It went in.
The stunning goal opened the scoring in the 10th minute as D.C. United defeated Orlando City 1-0 on Wednesday.
The loss snaps the Lions’ three-game winning streak in all competitions.
“It’s a moment of brilliance. There’s a handful of players that can do that, to show that vision and that level of execution and he’s at a world-class level,” Orlando City coach James O’Connor said. “… There are not too many people in the world that will be able to do what Rooney’s done (Wednesday).”
Orlando City was on the attack moments before Rooney’s goal. The ball had just been cleared away from D.C. United’s goal.
Lions defender Robin Jansson tried to control the ball and pass it to midfielder Sacha Kljestan. However, Kljestan lost control of the ball and it bounced right toward Rooney.
The former Manchester United star did the rest, scoring one of the best goals in MLS this season.
Rowe was left helpless as the ball went over his head and into the net. O’Connor said Rowe might have been a couple of yards too high from his line. There is a reasoning behind why he was so far in front of his own net.
It’s to play between the two center backs and act as a sweeper keeper if a ball or an attacker gets behind them.
On Wednesday though, he had no shot of stopping Rooney’s effort.
The goal continues Rooney’s run of performances against the Lions.
Last season, Rooney went viral after making a tackle and then dishing out an assist against the Lions in a 3-2 win.
In March, Rooney scored a free-kick goal just a few yards away from the corner flag. D.C. United ended up winning the game 2-1.
Orlando (5-3-8, 18 points) played much better in the second half. The Lions had multiple chances of finding an equalizing goal.
The Lions finished the contest with more total shots and possession.
In the 67th minute, Chris Mueller’ looping header went narrowly over the crossbar.
D.C. United (8-6-4, 30 points) was able to absorb the Lions’ pressure, getting multiple lines of its defense behind the ball and tried to hit the Lions on the counter. But the Lions’ long spells of possession went for naught.
“It’s a hard (loss) to take,” O’Connor said. … “We had chances and we just haven’t managed to capitalize and to get in there. I felt if we had gotten one, I felt we would’ve gone on and we would’ve won the game.”
Orlando City has little time to regroup, with the Lions moving on to face the Columbus Crew on the road Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
“We need to make sure we rest and recover and that’s the biggest thing going into Saturday,” O’Connor said.