D.C. United (3-1-1) take on The Montreal Impact (2-2-1) in their second game in four days at Audi Field. The Black-and-Red will be looking to recover from their first loss of the season that happened on Saturday at the hands of LAFC. The defeat marked the first time D.C. United dropped all three points since Aug. 29, 2018, against The Philadelphia Union.
The Black-and-Red’s defense had only surrendered one goal through four matches this season. That changed in the 16th minute of the match after Carlos Vela cut to his left and curled a shot into the back of the net from the right wing to take the early 0-1 lead. Diego Rossi added a hat trick to the match, scoring three straight goals as the second year operation won the match 0-4 on a sunny Saturday in the nation’s capital.
The Montreal Impact have generated minimal offensive effort to start the season, as only three players have registered goals for the Canadian side (Ignacio Piatti 3, Saphir Taïder 3, Orji Okwonkwo 1). Defensively, they have conceded 11 goals in just five games played. However, seven of those happened in a 7-1 rout by Sporting Kansas City on March 30th. Montreal will be desperate to put together a complete 90-minute performance tonight.
D.C. United will regroup and look to put a bad performance behind them against Montreal. Bill Hamid will be the starting goal keeper in net for United, ranking fifth in MLS with 18 saves in 2019, and tied for third with Seattle’s Stefan Frei in total shutouts with three. Both Steven Birnbaum (33) and Frederic Brillant (29) rank inside the top 5 for total clearances this season, which is not surprising after Birnbaum led the league last season in the same category.
D.C. will be without their star striker, Wayne Rooney, tonight after he received a red card in the 53rd minute of the match against LAFC for a tackle he committed on Rossi. This will most likely mean that the former Montreal man, Quincy Amarikwa or second-year midfielder, Ulises Segura, will slot in as the replacing player. This will be D.C. United’s first game without Rooney since July 4, 2018, just after DCU signed the Englishman as a Designated Player on June 28. Although a tough hit, Rooney’s absence will give United’s newest players a chance to gain some minutes on the season.
D.C. United will look to get back into the win column tonight against The Impact. Kickoff is slated for 8:00 PM ET and the match will be broadcast on FloFC.
