A downtrodden D.C. United hosted the Philadelphia Union, at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium on Saturday, April 21st. D.C. United were unable to recover from a sloppy first half and fell 3-2 to the visiting team. The Subside Sports Man of the Match goes to Jack McInerney for his two goals on the night.
The first strike came in the 7th minute, when Union forward Conor Casey threaded the ball through the United defense to Jack McInerney, who juked beautifully and beat keeper Bill Hamid. The second dagger from Philadelphia came in the 10th minute: Sheanon Williams hit a long sideline pass to Danny Cruz, who then found Casey in the middle. Casey struck powerfully and through the defender’s legs for the second goal of the match.
In the 18th minute, D.C. United retaliated with their own smart looking goal, only their third on the season. United defender Brandon McDonald chipped to captain Dwayne De Roasario, who kept his head up and found open striker Perry Kitchen. Kitchen one-touched the ball past Union keeper Zac MacMath.
Ten minutes later, Union’s Williams threw the ball into McInerney for another goal. The throw-in must have floated at least 35 yards and was quite accurate.
The first half ended with the Union having one more promising chance, but MacMath was in the right place at the right time for the important stop. Despite being down two-one at the half, the home side came out rejuvenated and strong. Two minutes in, a fantastic aerial cross from the outside met the head of DC United striker Lionard Pajoy for the team’s fourth goal of the season! The trailing home team continued to fight and controlled much of the second half, but they were unable to score.
An entertaining physical matchup between Casey and Dejan Jakovic carried on in the second half. Both players took turns fighting each other off the ball, Jakovic earning a yellow card in the 67th minute for a strong takedown. During stoppage time, Chris Pontius got flipped and folded in the air. He landed awkwardly and painfully, but was unscathed by the mishap, fortunately. Attendance for the match was 12,349. The last place D.C. United will have to do more if they have any hopes for a winning season. DC falls to 1-5-1, as Philadelphia climbs to 3-2-2 on the season.
