On Cherry Blossom night at Audi Field, a Wayne Rooney-less DC United lumbered to a goalless draw against the Montreal Impact that can be described as anything but picturesque. With only one shot on goal from either side, this was a match marked with few quality chances and very little dynamic ball movement.
United, playing without Rooney for the first time since his arrival from the Premier League last season, struggled to get any of sort of flow to their attack. The Impact hounded the play maker Luciano Acosta for the majority of the night, putting the onus on the rest of United’s attack to provide a spark. The strategy was effective at frustrating United into sloppy passes and flared tempers, leading to red cards for both Paul Arriola and Leonardo Jara in the first half.
Montreal, with both attacking forward Ignacio Piatti (injuries) and forward Maxi Urruti (red card) not available for tonight’s match, seemed comfortable in absorbing pressure from United, allowing United possession in non-threatening positions and passively looking for moments to push forward.
The match opened up a little more in the second half, as the first save of the match was registered in the 55th minute, a terrific parry of the Impact’s Zachary Brault-Guillard shot by United keeper, Bill Hamid. Hoping to spark a little bit of momentum and creativity, United brought on midfielder Lucas Rodriguez and forward Quincy Amarikwa early in the second half.
With the Impact comfortable in their defensive minded setup, it wasn’t until late into stoppage time that DC United threaten to get on the scoreboard when Amarikwa sprayed a bicycle kick wide of the left post off of a free kick.
For Montreal, the draw was a dull but welcome end to the six game road trip the club has been on to start the season. They will end the road trip 2-2-2, which is just 8 points off of their entire road point total last season. Following a 7-1 thrashing from Sporting KC last month, drawing against NYCFC and DC United looks like a nice recovery to their season.
The draw for DC was a little concerning, as United’s attack looked lifeless against the Impact. The attacking group of Acosta, Arriola and Steiber struggled to break down the Impact defense and rarely made it into the Impact penalty area. As manager Ben Olsen noted:
“We didn’t create that many chances, but that was [Montreal’s] plan. We knew it and they make things very difficult. We could have used Wayne’s quality out there, for sure, but I still think with the crew out there, we could have produced more opportunities. That part was a little disappointing.”
If United are hopeful to build on the success of last year, they will need to show that they are a team with an attacking identity outside of Rooney. The former Manchester United forward is no spring chicken at 34 years old and such a reliance on a player of that age, hoping that he stays healthy the whole season, will be a difficult proposition.
DC will look to recover this season’s momentum quickly, as they go on the road to face the win-less Colorado Rapids this Saturday, with Rooney likely back in the starting eleven. As for Montreal, their long six match road odyssey is over as they welcome the Columbus Crew to Saputo Stadium Saturday afternoon.
MATCH SUMMARY
D.C. United-Bill Hamid, Leonardo Jara (Jalen Robinson 90′), Frederic Brilliant, Steve Birnbaum, Chris McCann (Lucas Rodriguez 56′), Russell Canouse, Junior Moreno, Zoltan Steiber (Quincy Amarikwa 64′), Luciano Acosta, Paul Arriola, and Ulises Segura
Yellow Cards-Arriola (27′) and Jara (40′)
Montreal Impact-Evan Bush, Daniel Lovitz, Zakaria Diallo, Victor Cabrera, Zachary Brault-Guillard, Saphir Taider (Micheal Azira 80′), Samuel Piette, Shamit Shome, Mathieu Choiniere (Harry Novillo 84′), Anthony Jackson-Hamel (Orji Okwonkwo 80′), and Clement Bayiha
Yellow Cards- Shome (49′) and Taider (62′)
ATTENDANCE: 18,116
