Schoolhouse Rock had it right: three is the magic number. On Saturday afternoon in front 16,005 spectators at RFK Stadium three goals were enough for D.C. United to get three points against the New England Revolution.
Lamar Neagle, Luciano Acosta, and Alvaro Saborio would all score for D.C. and give the club their second win of the season.
With both sides coming off of a loss last week there was a bit of a sense urgency in the first half from both sides. The Revolution had the best opportunity early with forward Teal Bunbury finding space in the D.C. defensive third. Bunbury’s shot would inevitably hit the crossbar and be cleared.
New England would have the lion’s share of shots in the first half with midfielders Kelyn Rowe and Diego Fagundez operating a North-South passing attack. The Revolution achieved some level of success by pushing the United defense on their heels. However, the United center-back combination of Steve Birnbaum and Bobby Boswell limited Bunbury’s influence in the match and forced the Revs to mostly long distance shots.
“I thought it was good. Obviously the first fifteen minutes were a little sketchy,” said United Birnbaum. “Obviously, they had one off the crossbar and had a couple of decent chances, so we’ve got to clean that up. But overall, I thought the team as a whole defended well together, and the back line was pretty solid and dealt with their runs in the box the whole time.”
As opposed to New England, which hit early, the United attack took a bit of time to develop any chances of note. Midfielder Nick De Leon worked in a few nice diagonal passes with forward Fabian Espindola in attempt to find spaces in the Revolution defense. But much like like on the other side of the pitch Revolution center-backs Jose Goncalves and Andrew Farrell were successful in limiting D.C.’s chances.
United’s best chance early on would come in the form of a set piece. In the 24th minute, Taylor Kemp’s free kick would find midfielder Patrick Nyarko in the box. Nyarko’s header would go wide of the goal.
D.C. would strike first after drawing a penalty in the 33rd minute. Against Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth Neagle would go low and to the left to give United the 1-0 advantage. The goal was Neagle’s second of the season.
In the second half, D.C. would pull away thanks to key substitutes by interim head coach Chad Ashton. Ashton, who was filling in for the suspended Ben Olsen, opted to bring in Alvaro Saborio just after half-time and Luciano Acosta in the 70th minute. The infusion of energy on the attacking front would destabilize the Revolution back-line forcing them out of position on multiple occasions.
Acosta would finally breakthrough the Revs defense in the 86th minute, making a slight right turn on Farrell and hitting a chip shot over a leaping Shuttleworth. The goal was Acosta’s first of his 2016 campaign and his first as a member of D.C. United.
“I needed a little bit of a confidence boost and to show why I came here, and that goal helps,” said Acosta after the match.
“That’s what he does. That’s why he’s here; he’s got a lot of magic in him,” said Ashton. “I still think he’s got to pick and choose the right times to do it, but you’ve seen it already in the little glimpses when he’s played that he can pull off a big-time play, and again, it was very timely for us.”
Saborio would add another during injury time, picking up on a poor pass by the Revolution defense and running past Shuttleworth. The Costa Rican international was initially ruled offside but the call was later reversed by head referee Alan Kelly. The goal was Saborio’s third of the season.
With the win D.C. United (2-3-3, 9 points) moves into fifth place in the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference standings. They will travel next week to Bridgeview, Illinois to take on the Chicago Fire.
As for the Revolution (1-2-5, 8 points), the loss drops them into seventh place in the East. After going winless in three consecutive matches on the road, Revs coach Jay Heaps and his side will hope some home cooking will make the difference. The task will still be tall on Wednesday at Gillette Stadium as they will play host to the Portland Timbers.
D.C. United– Travis Worra, Sean Franklin, Steve Birnbaum, Bobby Boswell, Taylor Kemp, Patrick Nyarko (Rob Vincent 80′), Marcelo Sarvas, Nick De Leon, Lamar Neagle, Chris Rolfe (Luciano Acosta 70′), and Fabian Espindola (Alvaro Saborio 44′).
Goals-Neagle (33′,) Acosta (86′,) and Saborio (90′)
Yellow Cards- Sarvas (21′) and Franklin (61′)
New England Revolution- Bobby Shuttleworth, Je-Vaughn Watson, Andrew Farrell, Jose Goncalves, Chris Tierney (London Woodberry 29′), Kelyn Rowe, Scott Caldwell (Charlie Davies 59′), Lee Nugyen, Gershon Koffie, Diego Fagundez, and Teal Bunbury (Daigo Kobayashi 79′)
Yellow Cards- Caldwell (45′) and Goncalves (67′)
ATTENDANCE: 16,005
DC United
NE Revolution
