WASHINGTON, D.C. — D.C. United fell to 10-men and conceded two first half goals Sunday, losing 5-1 to the Philadelphia Union at Audi Field.
United is winless in its last three matches, has dropped points in its last three home games and is 2-4-7 over the last 13 games.
“It’s a gut check,” coach Ben Olsen said after the loss. “It is a punch in the mouth and we will see who can respond from this.”
Prior to the loss Sunday, United had to battle back in two consecutive draws at home after conceding first half goals to Toronto FC and New England Revolution, respectively.
“The past few home games we have started like this, and it is something that we need to figure out within ourselves,” midfielder Paul Arriola said. “As players, we need to talk about it and understand what we are doing wrong and what we need to improve on, because that is a serious issue for us.”
D.C. used a similar lineup to the one fielded for the team’s last match, a scoreless draw July 27 against Chicago, making just one change against Philadelphia by adding homegrown player Chris Durkin, 19, in place of midfielder Russell Canouse, who is out for three to six weeks following a collapsed lung.
Another young United homegrown player, Donovan Pines, 21, was tasked with manning Union midfielder Andrew Wooten. It was an uneven matchup that proved costly in the opening minutes of the game. In a foot race with Wooten on the right flank, Pines made an attempt to keep the ball in bounds. He succeeded, but ended up on the ground with the ball loose. Wotten collected it and passed to forward Marco Fabián. The forward set up midfielder Alejandro Bedoya for the opening goal.
“It is a good lesson for him, that the ball needs to go up the field. It is a big game and you don’t want to be caught in that situation,” Olsen said of Pines. “Unfortunately, he learned a lesson today, and in a game like this everybody has to show up and not learn lessons.”
Celebrating his third goal of the season, Union captain Bedoya capitalized on the attention. After a short celebration with the team, he sprinted over to the corner microphone and gave a simple message to Congress, “Do something now. End gun violence” in reference to the recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.
From the opening whistle, United failed to maintained serious possession, but the biggest hits were yet to come.
In the 13th minute, Durkin began tugging at his right ankle. He remained in the game for another three minutes until ultimately sitting on the ground. There was a twist and pop in his ankle during the game, according to Olsen.
“I would expect him to be out,” Olsen said of Durkin. “That is also a little bit of a concern because of [Canouse] being out, so now we have to look within or maybe externally and look at the market right now to fix that hole.”
Adjusting to the injury, Olsen shifted defender Joseph Mora to the left side of the field, pulled Lucas Rodriguez to the right and pushed Leonardo Jara into a more attacking midfield role. The shift did not add anything to United’s attack. The only shot of the half for the home team was a missed free kick from forward Wayne Rooney.
Less than five minutes later, United stumbled again. Midfielder Junior Moreno chased Kacper Przybylko down in the box. The players fell to the ground in front of goalkeeper Bill Hamid. The first call from referee Armando Villarreal was a yellow card to Moreno and a penalty kick. After video review, Villarreal overturned his yellow card for a red, leaving United with 10 men.
Przybylko missed the ensuing penalty kick, but teammate Fabián found a way to double the lead before halftime.
“We lost the chip and the organization,” defender Frederic Brillant said. “It was very tough for us tonight and we conceded too many goals.”
In the second half, United fought its way back into the game but conceded within the first 10 minutes of the restart.
Without two starting defensive midfielders and down a man in the second half, Olsen opted for a 4-3-1 formation with Rooney in the midfield and Luciano Acosta as the lone forward. Olsen also added right back Chris Odoi-Atsem in for Pines. Odoi-Atsem immediately made an impact with his speed.
“It was a little bit of next man up in making those moves,” Olsen said. “He gives us another dimension. He is not 90 minutes fit up to this point, but we can get him there quicker.”
In the 53rd minute, Odoi-Atsem sprinted toward the sideline after the ball. Desperate to stop the play, Aurélien Collin rammed into the defender. Odoi-Atsem won the free kick for United. Go-to kicker for set pieces, Rooney, found the head of defender Steven Birnbaum. Brillant made sure the ball made in past goalkeeper Philly goalkeeper Andre Blake.
“To be honest, I think it is BS,” Arriola said. “We should be able to do that from the beginning of the game. I think that we are just not on the same page collectively.”
United had a chance to score a second goal in the 64th minute down 3-1. Hamid cleared a ball past midfield to Acosta, who made it by two Union defenders before slotting a pass to Arriola. The pass drew Blake out of goal, but Arriola’s shot soared over the crossbar.
“For me, simply this year, the ball has not been falling in the back of the net,” Arriola said. “Tonight, maybe I put one of the two away when we are 3-1, even though it is a large task ahead of us at 3-2, but still, it could have made a difference.”
The Union added insurance goals in the 70th minute from Fabián and the 90th minute from Fabrice-Jean Picault, assisted by Ilsinho. Fabián recorded a brace before being substituted off the field.
With Durkin joining Canouse on the injury list and Moreno on a red-card suspension for the next game, United is going to have to make changes quickly.
“We need to figure out how we tweak this, because right now we are not good enough,” Olsen said. “We have to make some changes. That could be tactical. That could be personnel.”
United has another tough task at home Sunday against the LA Galaxy and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but the message in preparation is simple, according to Brillant: “We have to talk to each other, say the truths and find a good way to bounce back.”