It’s a busy week in MLS with midweek matchups galore. Tonight, D.C. United host CF Montréal at Audi Field in their second meeting of the 2023 season.
The Black-and-Red have returned home after a 2-1 loss in Toronto that had Wayne Rooney vocally disappointed in his team’s performance. D.C. will look to turn things around at home in front of their steadfast supporters.
Rooney said, “If you want to be a good team and compete, it’s no good doing it for two or three games. You have to do it consistently.” Tonight is a test as the Black-and-Red look to shake off Saturday’s disappointment and work to develop the consistent performances that will carry them through the remainder of the season.
As for Montréal, Hernán Losada’s men just bested Inter Miami 1-0 at home, a second-half goal from Chinonso Offor locking in three points. Trailing D.C. United by one point in the Eastern Conference standings, the Bleu-Blanc-Noir seek their third consecutive win (in all competitions). However, they’ve only won a single match away from home this season.
Losada indicated that the Black-and-Red should expect to see a different CF Montréal team this evening, saying, “There’s been an evolution. We’re not the same team we were at the start of the season. We’re not the same team that lost 1-0 at Stade Saputo to them last time, our only loss at home. We’re more positive, and I think there’s a lot of positive energy in the group. There’s more cohesion between the players too.”
We’ll see how it all shakes out tonight!
Let us know in the comments what you’re hoping to see during tonight’s match and your predictions. We look forward to chatting with you in the comments during the match!
Key Player: Christian Benteke
Benteke continues to be the keystone of D.C. United’s attack, consistently putting the team on the scoreboard and being a difference-maker in difficult situations.
Watch Out For: Chinonso Offor
Offor leads Montréal in goalscoring this season with three goals across 14 matches. Will he give D.C. United’s backline trouble tonight?
Challenges: The Black-and-Red’s injury list is growing. Russell Canouse is a new addition after a nasty collision with C.J. Sapong in D.C.’s match against Toronto.
Previously: D.C. United dealt CF Montréal their only home loss of the season during the teams’ last meeting in mid-April.
D.C. United Availability:
Out: Martin Rodriguez (knee), Nigel Robertha (ankle), Mohanad Jeahze (thigh), Ruan (thigh), Russell Canouse (head)
Questionable: Cristian Dajome (knee), Luis Zamudio (thigh)
CF Montréal Availability:
Out: Samuel Piette (adductor), Mason Toye (left knee), Romell Quioto (hamstring)
Location: Audi Field, Washington, D.C.
Kickoff time: 7:30 pm ET
Referee: Alex Chilowicz
Available streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Losada returns to Buzzards Point.Should be an interesting evening.
Thanks for the plug, Will, but it’s Buzzard (singular) Point and has been since 1673. And keep up the great rugby coverage. I’m pulling for you to be added to the DP team.
Not sure why but I’m having a nervous feeling goin into this one. Several of y’all were kind enough to calm down my hot takes after the horror of the last match. Feels like DC needs 3 points badly here. No Canouse in the midfield will make that hard but maybe Taxi and Najar make some magic going forward. Vamos!
Fine first half. DC took about 25-30 minutes to really get going but you can’t complain with a halftime lead. My main complaints are that the team started being way too direct. That changed as the half went on. My other complain is Santos’ services which have been pretty awful.
Pines has blown away my expectations this season, getting solid in the fundamentals in his own end and contributing with goals now. Yes, more, please!
Other than that, we really need more crosses that Benteke can read, Santos is particularly guilty of not delivering them.
Pines has truly come into his own. I love it!
Well said. Pines has been stellar. His growth with the ball at his feet has been tremendous.
Apparently Apple TV doesn’t want me to watch on my tv via Xbox…360, and other games will load, but not the DCU game…and it loaded just fine on my computer while I was cooking…
Never fear. I just hooked my Surface up to the tv instead and now I can watch the game on tv.
TKD scores! Woohoo!
2-0 to the good guys
I got back to watching just in time for KDP to score!
Absolutely relentless pressure by DC is rewarded with a Ted KDP goal! We’ll worked from DC as they worked the ball over and over again for the goal.
Yep, more and more looking like the last game was more a blip, but hopefully we can maintain some consistency for the next few games.
Momentum is important to making the playoffs, definitely, but this is a weird time in the season. Toronto were way underperforming their talent for a long time.
Pines with an odd aerial error, leads to a corner. I’d like to see a replay of that, off his shoulder, maybe?
Taxi for KDP. We play again on Saturday, so I’m hoping Rooney plans on using the other subs
Well shit
Shit, we let Montreal back in
Damn it…what the hell
Dude why are we throwing it away.
Wow, Pines slips, the assist comes in for the tying goal. Shit, really bad
Wow, that’s a red if there were justice for O’Brien.
O’Brien lucky not to see red there. DC are reeling right now
I think the team missed Canouse on those plays, shouting and directing and leading by example, calming stuff down if necessary
Santos finally gets a nice chipped pass in, Benteke thunders it wide with his head
Weirdly, after the game, as I was in the loo, we get to hear the radio call, and Dave Johnson announced that Santos was the Player of the Match.
I don’t know what match they were watching.
Why are we collapsing late?
Lack of composure and a massive drop in energy
Damn it this a draw that feels like a loss….
Another embarrassing result. Montreal have been dreadful on the road and hadn’t earned a point when conceding first until tonight. These past two results, against inferior opponents, just make it harder and harder to earn a playoff spot. Now they have a tough road match at Miami.
There’s no excuse for this result. But there was a decided drop in intensity around the 70th minute. Given DC’s schedule and upcoming fixture, why not get some fresh legs in? Santos got abused on that left wing with his lack of pace. The overall lack of rotation in the squad might not be helping tired legs either but I’m grasping at straws to try to explain what I just witnessed.
Well, that was some bullshit of our own making. That first goal, I mean, it can happen, Montreal did nothing for a long, long time, and as much as it’s frustrating to let them back in the game, it’s a situation you have to manage. Pines lunging for that nothing ball and leaving the play behind for the second was the kind of play I expected from him last season, still need to iron the spastic errors out of the shirt.
Truly frustrating to throw it away, point or no.