D.C. United return to RFK Stadium for their second match in six days for a date with last year’s Western Conference champions FC Dallas. Coming off of a 2-0 home win against Montreal thanks to two stunning goals from the talented Argentine duo of Mauro Díaz and Maximiliano Urruti, FC Dallas will travel to Black-and-Red territory with momentum.
United, meanwhile, hosted the Colorado Rapids--including their newest signing, USMNT goalkeeper Tim Howard, who watched from the stands and will join the team this summer--Sunday evening in their home opener. The match ended 1-1 thanks to a late Fabián Espíndola equalizer in the 80th minute.
The Black-and-Red faced FC Dallas just one time last season and are hungry for revenge after falling 2-1 in a summer scorcher in Frisco last July. D.C. are 15-19-8 all-time against the Western Conference team.
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In FC Dallas’ last trip to RFK, United cruised to a 4-1 victory behind goals from Fabian Espíndola (2), Sean Franklin, and Bobby Boswell. With all three likely to see significant minutes again this Saturday, the Black-and-Red will hope to continue the trend of success against Dallas at home.
While United will be without Steve Birnbaum and Álvaro Saborío who were called-up to the U.S. and Costa Rican national teams, respectively, for World Cup Qualifying matches this coming week, Dallas will be missing seven players for national team duty. Rising goalkeeping star Jesse Gonzalez, 20, has defended Dallas’ net admirably with five saves in three starts, but will miss the trip to D.C. after being named to the Mexican U-23 team in Olympic tune-up games against Japan and Portugal. Kellyn Acosta and Walker Zimmerman will be with the U-23 USMNT as they face a playoff with Colombia for an Olympic birth, while Maynor Figueroa, Moises Hernandez, and Tesho Akindele will represent their respective national teams in World Cup Qualifying. Atiba Harris will be with St. Kitts and Nevis as they attempt to qualify for the 2017 Carribbean Cup.
Coverage for the 5:30 match begins at 5:00 PM on ABC 7 (WJLA).
