If there were constants to D.C. United’s 2015 campaign it would be: improbably victories, players returning from injury, and players getting injured. Although these three situations are faced by every team in professional soccer for United it seems to be a little more frequent than it is for the rest of the league.
Saturday’s 1-0 victory over the Montreal Impact has been applauded in that the club won the match with just one shot (cue the stale Eminem references) it also was noteworthy in that served as the return match for several players who have been on the sideline. Goalkeeper Bill Hamid, right-back Sean Franklin, and Chris Pontius each made their return to the squad after being sidelined for lengthy periods due to injury. Hamid started the match while both Franklin (a 2015 MLS All-Star) and Pontius came off of the bench.
Of the three Hamid had by far the most impact on the match making eight saves and preserving a very precarious 1-0 advantage. “Bill was Bill. He bailed us out a few times,” said D.C. United coach Ben Olsen after the match.
When asked if Hamid’s sharpness was a concern Olsen said, ” “We can hope [he’s that sharp on his return]. It surprised me he was that sharp tonight. But he’s a competitor. He’s pushed his way back pretty quickly from his surgeries, and I give him a lot of credit. He’s probably not 100 percent up to speed, but he’s gutting it out, and he was certainly one of our difference makers tonight.”
The return of Hamid, Pontius, and Franklin coupled with midfielders Markus Halsti and Michael Farfan returning to practice have the club at near full strength for the first time since the opening of the season. But just as United is getting healthy and getting into form the injury bug strikes again. On Tuesday the club announced that forward Fabian Espindola will be out for the next 10-14 days with a left knee sprain. The injury according to United officials was sustained during practice last Friday. Espindola, who has scored three goals this season, did not feature for the squad against the Impact and is likely out until the end of the month.
Without Espindola United will likely go with Jairo Arrieta up top with Alvaro Saborio. Arrieta, who started alongside Saborio during Saturday’s match, has five goals and two assists this season, started alongside Saborio during the Impact match.
In addition to Espindola, midfielder Nick De Leon was also held out of practice on Tuesday. De Leon left Saturday’s match half-time for undisclosed reasons. During practice, Olsen said “We’ll make a decision on [DeLeon] tomorrow, see if he’s able to play a role in this [game against New York City FC on Thursday]. He got out in time, but we’ve been pushing some guys, and it’s that point in the season where sometimes guys get a little worn down. So we got to be smart.”
D.C. United will have one more practice today before traveling to take on New York City FC. The match will not be available on Comcast SportsNET DC but will be available via a live stream on the club’s website. MLS Lice supporters in the D.C. area will also have access.
