DC United, playing their third game in nine days, could not be saved by the heroics of their 35-year old super-sub, Frederico Higuain, and fell to Montreal 1-0 in a listless performance Tuesday night in Orlando.
With a win, DC had the opportunity to win Group C (following the goalless draw between New England and Toronto Tuesday morning), while even a draw would allow them to likely move forward to the knockout stage. Instead, the Black and Red find themselves on a plane ride back to the Nation’s Capital.
United had the control of play early in the match but possibly due to the number of fixtures so recently, momentum started to slip into Montreal’s favor. Montreal controlled much of the possession in the first half but couldn’t break DC’s defensive posture.
It was in the 31st minute, where Thierry Henry’s men broke through of a terrible own goal deflected off of Washington defender Frederic Brilliant. The Impact Saphir Taider’s took a screamer of a shot from 30 yards out that United’s keeper, Bill Hamid, was positioned to stop however Brilliant stuck out his leg and inadvertently redirected the ball to the near corner and into the back of the net.
DC United almost compounded the mistake a few minutes later with a studs up tackle from midfielder Felipe Martins on Montreal’s recent addition, Victor Wanyama, however much to Henry’s chagrin, it only received a yellow card.
In the second half, United hoped to recapture the magic of Higuain’s performances from the first two matches in group stage play. While Ben Olsen’s men had much of the possession and run of play in the second half, the lack of imagination stunted much of the potency of United’s act and limped to the finish. With the exception of a shot from seven yards out from United substitution (and recent import fro Loudon FC) Kevin Paredes, but Impact keeper Clement Diop was able to make a excellent save to preserve the victory.
With the win, the Impact await the conclusion of the the group stage to see if their performance in group play qualifies them to the knockout stage.
For United, they head back to the Nation’s Capital and await what MLS has planned for the rest of the season. With the MLS is Back tournament matches counting towards the season record of participating clubs, DC falls to 1-2-2, while the Impact climbed to 2-2-1 with the win.
