D.C. United dropped a 3-0 decision to the New England Revolution on Wednesday night at Audi Field. The result leaves the Black-and-Red on 24 points with a 5-6-9 record on the season.
The Black-and-Red carried the early play and generated the better of the opening chances. Midfielder Matti Peltola forced a block from distance in the fifth minute, midfielder Jackson Hopkins was denied from the center of the box moments later, and midfielder Kimito Nono glanced a header just wide off a direct free kick in the seventh. D.C. United strung together three attempts inside a single sequence in the 20th minute, with defender Silvan Hefti and Hopkins both blocked before New England goalkeeper Matt Turner clawed a close-range Nono header into the top corner.
New England opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, when midfielder Peyton Miller nodded the ball across the six-yard box for midfielder Alhassan Yusuf to head home from close range.
D.C. United kept coming. Defender Lucas Bartlett steered a Keisuke Kurokawa delivery just wide in the 30th minute, and forward Louis Munteanu went close twice inside five minutes, lifting a right-footed effort over the bar from the left side of the box in the 35th and heading a Hopkins service high from inside the six-yard box in the 39th. Goalkeeper Sean Johnson turned aside a Carles Gil strike from outside the box in the 42nd, but Yusuf added a second in first-half stoppage time, finishing from close range off a cross from winger Jack Harrison to send the visitors into the interval ahead 2-0.
Head Coach René Weiler made a double change at the break, introducing midfielder Brandon Servania and forward Nathan Ordaz for defender Sean Nealis and Hopkins. Nono nearly halved the deficit in the 49th minute, collecting a Tai Baribo lay-off and clipping a right-footed attempt narrowly past the top right corner. Johnson kept the Black-and-Red within reach through a busy stretch midway through the half, denying forward Dor Turgeman twice and pushing away a Gil effort from the right side of the box, before Yusuf completed his hat trick in the 66th minute with a header from another Harrison cross.
D.C. United pressed until the final whistle. Defender Nikola Markovic and midfielder Hosei Kijima entered in the 68th minute, and three minutes later Ordaz drew a save out of Turner from the left side of the area before forward Tai Baribo headed a Kurokawa cross wide off the resulting corner. Bartlett came closest late, forcing Turner into a low save off an Andre Dozzell cross in the 87th minute.
D.C. United return to action on Saturday, August 22 when the Black-and-Red travel to face Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
D.C. United Lineup: Sean Johnson, Lucas Bartlett, Silvan Hefti, Matti Peltola, Sean Nealis (Brandon Servania 46'), Keisuke Kurokawa, Kimito Nono (Nikola Markovic 68'), Andre Dozzell (Jared Stroud 90'), Jackson Hopkins (Nathan Ordaz 46'), Tai Baribo, Louis Munteanu (Hosei Kijima 68')
Unused Substitutes: Alex Bono, Oscar Avilez
Head Coach: Rene Weiler
New England Revoultion Lineup: Matt Turner, Mamadou Fofana, Matthew Polster (Cody Baker 84'), Ethan Kohler, Will Sands, Carles Gil (Judah Siqueira 89'), Brooklyn Raines, Alhassan Yusuf, Jack Harrison (Marcos Zambrano 84'), Peyton Miller (Griffin Yow 89'), Dor Turgeman (Wilson Harris 77')
Unused Substitutes: Tanner Beason, Jackson Yueill, Donovan Parisian, Diego Fagundez
Head Coach: Marko Mitrovic
