Entering Sunday’s match in Chicago, the Black-and-Red knew a win would secure the first home playoff game in Audi Field’s young history. After enduring 90 minutes of swirling wind and rain, United settled for a hard-fought 0-0 draw that sent them back to D.C. with a home playoff game on the horizon—the ideal start to their 2018 postseason campaign.
“I thought it was a tough night to play soccer,” head coach Ben Olsen said after the draw. “The wind was changing left and right, then in the second half we had to deal with the rain too.”
Despite the wind and rain, United kept a determined Chicago attack off the scoreboard for their sixth clean sheet of the year. A solid defensive effort was the difference maker for United on a challenging night. Led by a standout performance from defender Frédéric Brillant, the Black-and-Red limited Chicago’s Nemanja Nikolić and Aleksander Katai, who combined for 27 regular season goals, to just four total shots on the evening.
“I thought it was a gutsy performance from the whole group, especially with our defensive efforts,” Olsen remarked. “The way we defended the box was as good as I’ve ever seen. It was a night where you needed to do that to get a result.”
Olsen and the rest of coaching staff were made aware of other scores around the Eastern Conference throughout the game, particularly an NYCFC lead over the Philadelphia Union which would have ensured a fourth-place finish for the Black-and-Red should their own match stay scoreless. With a draw being enough to secure home-field advantage, United were not forced to push for a late go-ahead goal.
“We knew the scores of the other games and also knew the scenarios, so at some point it made sense to go for a point,” Olsen said.
The draw extended United’s unbeaten streak to 10 games, the team’s longest streak of the season and the longest in club history since 2007. While they came to Chicago looking to end the regular season with three points, the Black-and-Red still knew the importance of the result.
“It’s 10 unbeaten and we know it’s a difficult game," captain Wayne Rooney said after the match. "The point is enough in the end, obviously enough to secure fourth place. We are going into our game [Thursday] now with a lot of confidence and hopefully we get the win.”
United face a quick turnaround, but will be glad to avoid traveling for their Knockout Round matchup. They return home to the District and their rowdy local fanbase to host the Columbus Crew for the first time at Audi Field at 8 PM ET on Thursday. A win on Thursday would send the Black-and-Red into the Eastern Conference Semifinal, and United know that if they want to complete a deep postseason run, they will need to muster up more gutsy performances in high-pressure situations in the coming weeks.
