Late goals lift D.C. United over Riverhounds

No surprises this time. After failing in their repeat bid to win the 2014 U.S. Open Cup, D.C. United was able to advance in the 2015 competition. Thanks to a series of late goals by Kofi Opare and Nick De Leon, United moved past the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at Highmark Stadium on Wednesday night and on to the fifth round of the U.S. Open Cup.

Both Opare and De Leon would score off of headers. Opare’s would come in the 101st minute off of a corner kick by defender Jared Jeffrey while De Leon’s goal can be attributed to a cross by forward Jairo Arrieta in the 114th minute. The match went into overtime after Riverhounds forward Robbie Vincent buried his penalty in the 22nd minute. United opened up the match with a goal by Facundo Coria in the 6th minute.

D.C. Uniteds Jairo Arrieta and Pittsburgh Riverhounds Anthony Arena go up for a 50-50 ball (photo credit: Terry O’Neil/Riverhounds.com)

Despite the 3-1 scoreline the match was much closer throughout regulation. The Riverhounds, who lead the United Soccer League in goals with 27 goals, played a very fat and aggressive and took advantage of a United side that featured only two regular starters. Led by midfielder Kevin Carr and Robbie Vincent, Pittsburgh pushed the ball with relative ease down the right flank and had several dangerous opportunities. Carr’s zig-zag run into the box forced Opare to make a dangerous foul inside the box. With a chance to score his fourth goal in Open Cup play and twelfth in all competitions, Vincent buried his chance past United goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra.

At 1-1, both team would a fast engaging style of play with counter-attacks providing the best opportunities. In the 59th minute, United forward Miguel Aguilar received a cross from defender Jared Jeffrey and appeared to have a golden opportunity to gain the advantage. But Riverhounds center-back Mike Green boxed out the rookie attacker and forced him to move outside of the Riverhounds penalty box.

A similar situation occurred on the other side of the pitch in the 57th minute when Kerr would punch in the dangerous pass to Vincent. Vincent would hit a bullet at the United goal that looked promising but would ultimately be saved by Dykstra.

Much like in league play, United would find a breakthrough on a set piece. In the first half of extra time, Opare would head home the winner off of a high corner kick taken by Jeffrey. This goal, coupled with Coria’s tap in off of a corner taken by Luis Silva in the 6th would give United nine goals this season off of set pieces.

With the victory, D.C. United moves on to play the Columbus Crew who beat D.C. United affiliate Richmond Kickers earlier this evening. The match will be either on June the 30th or July the 1st. They will continue MLS league play on Sunday at 5pm when they host the New England Revolution.

For the Pittsburgh Riverhounds this marks an end to their U.S. Open Cup campaign. The club did have a quality run through the tournament, beating the West Virginia Chaos and the favored Tampa Bay Rowdies in previous rounds. They will host FC Montreal during league play on Sunday night.

MATCH SUMMARY

D.C. United-Andrew Dykstra, Kofi Opare ,Markus Halsti, Jared Jeffrey, Luke Mishu, Luis Silva (Nick De Leon 83′,) Conor Doyle, Jalen Robinson, Facundo Coria (Chris Korb 90+3′,) Miguel Aguilar, and Jairo Arrieta.

Goals-Coria (6′,) Opare (101′,) and De Leon (114′)

Yellow Card-Arrieta (90+2′)

Pittsburgh Riverhounds- Calle Brown, Fejiro Okiomah, Willie Hunt, Sterling Flunder (Tyler Pasher 77′,) Mike Green, Miro Cabrilo, Danny Earls, Anthony Arena, Kevin Kerr, Stephen Okai (Boris Zivanovic 80′,) and Robbie Vincent.

Goal-Vincent (23′)

Yellow Card- Flunder (41′)