United's 5-0 route of the Montreal Impact on Saturday night at Audi Field earned Team of the Week honors for Luciano Acosta, Paul Arriola, Wayne Rooney and Bill Hamid. The big win also earned head coach Ben Olsen a Coach of the Week nod for Week 31 of the regular season.
The match was an offensive clinic from the Black-and-Red, who got braces from Arriola and Rooney, and a masterful one goal, three assist showing from Acosta. Meanwhile, Hamid recorded his second clean sheet of 2018 as Olsen's crew drew within two points of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with full control of their playoff destiny.
Acosta broke the seal on Saturday's match in the 17th minute when he held off a defender to get the ball to Yamil Asad in the box. Once the Montreal defenders broke toward Asad, Acosta ran into the open space where his fellow Argentine quickly got the ball back to him. Once Acosta had his shooting lane, he fired it in off the far post to make it 1-0 for the Black-and-Red.
Acosta would have a hand in the next three goals for United on a night where everything was clicking.
“It was incredible,” Acosta said after the match. “We were playing beautiful soccer. It was a beautiful game.”
Despite entering the second half with the one-goal lead, Montreal came out pushing for an equalizer. United needed a second goal to keep things rolling, and Rooney delivered off a slick feed from Acosta in midfield. As Rooney made his way toward goal, he let the ball do the work, shifted himself into position then fired a precision shot that was vintage Rooney to make it 2-0.
The Black-and-Red were far from done, though, as Arriola joined in on the fun when he finished off a beautiful passing play that deconstructed the Montreal back line.
With the momentum fully on their side Arriola and Rooney both struck again to complete the route and secure D.C.'s largest single-match goal total since their 6-2 win over the Chicago Fire on Aug. 27, 2016.
Meanwhile, Hamid held the line, stopping five shots on the way to his second shutout of the season and his first since the Black-and-Red's 2-0 win over the New England Revolution on Aug. 19.
Before the game turned into a route, Hamid stood tall to preserve the one-goal lead in the 21st minute when Bacary Sagna found an open lane and fire a shot on net. Hamid absorbed the shot, then quickly pounced on the rebound before the Impact had a chance to poke it in. The save was a key moment for the Black-and-Red that completely changed the course of the night.
“I’m just doing my job," Hamid said. "It was just a little breakdown and some good runs from them. Bacary Sagna played very high throughout the course of the game and he found himself at the top of the box, got a good strike on it, but thankfully I made the save.”
Olsen was quick to give credit to his team for showing up and performing in a match that may very well change the course of the season for United. The seasoned coach was proud of the entire group's effort, but noted that it was just one more step toward the goal that is now closer in reach.
“Since Wayne [Rooney]'s arrival, bringing Bill [Hamid] back and the younger guys we have on the team, there’s a certain moxy to the group," Olsen said. "I like the group’s mentality and I hope they understand what we need to do over the next month to reach our goal. We need to forget about this very quickly and focus on Chicago. We’re not there yet. We’re closer to our goal, but still far from where we need to be.”
This is the eighth time Acosta has earned Team of the Week honors while Arriola has made the team five times this season. Hamid has now made the Team of the Week three times, while Rooney has now earned two Team of the Week nods.
This is the second time in 2018 that Olsen has been named Coach of the Week.
The full MLS Team of the Week for Week 31 can be seen below.
F: Ibrahimovic (LA), Rooney (DC)
M: Vazquez (TOR), Acosta (DC), Mihailovic (CHI), Rzatkowski (RBNY), Lodeiro (SEA)
D: Glad (RSL), Parker (RBNY), Cannon (DAL)
GK: Blake (PHI)
Bench: Hamid (DC), Lawrence (RBNY), Morrow (TOR), Arriola (DC), Ruidiaz (SEA), Rodriguez (MIN), Manotas (HOU)
Coach: Ben Olsen (DC)
