D.C. United will make one final road trip to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough before MLS All-Star comes to Audi Field.
After a deflating 2-2 draw with a Messi-less Inter Miami side at home, the Black-and-Red are looking to snap back with a win – and three points – on the road. They have their work cut out for them, though. New England has been unbeaten at home since 2022.
The Revs are still charged up over a 2-1 win over Atlanta on Wednesday, marking an 11-match home unbeaten streak. Matt Polster and Giacomo Vrioni contributed to New England’s scoreline. Tired legs or not, New England won’t easily give up at home.
Striker Christian Benteke is ready to fight for all three points. He said, “It’s important for us that we get as many points as we can because, obviously, we want to play the playoff. I want to play the playoff. So it’s going to be important to get as many points as we can. Obviously, we’re going to play away from home against a very good team. But in this league, and especially this season, we showed that we could win against anyone. So I think we have to believe we have to go there with the mindset that, yes, we can do it. It doesn’t matter how hard it is going to be, but we can do it.”
Will D.C. United pick up three points and snap the Rev’s win streak at home?
Key Player: Christian Benteke
Black-and-Red MLS All-Star, Christian Benteke, found the back of the net back in March against the Revolution. Surely, Wayne Rooney and D.C.’s faithful are looking for a repeat performance.
Watch Out For: Gustavo Bou
Expect Gustavo Bou to cause trouble for D.C. United, especially at Gillette Stadium. In addition to punishing the Black-and-Red at Audi Field, he’s recorded 60 goals and assists in league play – including four goals this season. Bou also holds a team record for most goals scored against D.C. United.
Challenges: The Black-and-Red will face the Revs’ fortress at Gillette Stadium, complete with turf.
Previously: D.C. United last met the Revolution on March 25 at Audi Field. New England took three points on the road, winning 1-2. Christian Benteke was the lone goalscorer for the Black-and-Red, while Gustavo Bou and Noel Buck found the back of the net for the Revs.
New England Revolution Availability:
Out: Dylan Borrero (left knee – season-ending), Nacho Gil (right leg), Henry Kessler (right hamstring), Maciel (left Achilles), Tommy McNamara (left leg)
D.C. United Availability:
Out: Martin Rodriguez (knee), Mohanad Jeahze (leg), Ted Ku-DiPietro (ankle), Pedro Santos (thigh), Donovan Pines (yellow card accumulation)
Location: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA
Kickoff time: 7:30 pm ET
Referee: Ismir Pekmic
Available streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Hoping DC is ready to rebound today. A game on turf won’t help, but hopefully the guys pull it off send O’Brien off with a win in his final game with DC!
Maybe Carles Gil is a player that DCU should watch out for?
History would say that’s a logical strategy.
Don’t forget about Gustavo Bou
He probably hasn’t scored in every game against DC, but it sure seems like it.
Also, calling an Ian Harkes goal was easy money.
New England Starting XI:
Petrovitch
Bye, Farrell, Romney, Spaulding
Polster,
Boateng, Ian Harkes (former DCU homegrown)
Gil,
Bou, Wood
Oh joy Charlie Davies on commentary…
Here’s a fun drinking game: every time Charlie says a DC player should receive a card for a mild offense take a drink*
(* you may not make it to the second half)
What did we do to him during his time on loan at DCU…that he hates us so much?
DCU Starting XI:
Miller,
Palsson, Williams, Birnbaum,
Najar, Canouse, O’Brien, Klich,
Asad,
Taxi, Beneteke
Wait why is New England in white when they are home team?
Not good non-contact turf monster injury for Taxi…
Birnbaum gets an elbow from Bobby Wood to the face and is down on the field bleeding.
Hines-Ike getting ready to come in.
Yup Birnbaum coming off and Hines-Ike coming in.
Its a concussion sub, so it doesn’t count against the 5 subs in 3 windows.
Some players just always score on DC. Bou is one of those and no DC coach has decided or figured out a way to stop him. Defense has been solid up until that goal.
Good run and nice flick header from Bou. More credit due to Gil for the perfect pass. DC had been strong defensivley until then. No pressure on ball and no one tracking Bou’s run. From that perspective, NE could not have asked for an easier goal. Hopefully DC can find a way to draw level.
Awful pass by Miller and of course Harkes scores against DC. Playoffs are looking like a long shot.
Son of a gun Palsson kept Harkes onside there by dropping faster than the rest of the line.
I’m not blaming Palsson there. That’s on Miller for that pass. Yes Palsson could’ve saved his blushes but if I’m Rooney I’m way more mad at Miller than Palsson.
Poor turnover from Miller, terrible postioning from Palsson and Harkes with a great finish (Palsson played Harkes on, but hardly the main fault on this goal). DC have been decent on the road, except for against the elite teams in the East, who have made easy work of this DC side.
Birnbaum was a shell of himself last year, but has really shone well this year for DC. Probably wouldn’t be 2-0 if not for the reckless elbow from Wood. Hopefully he is okay to go in Leagues Cup, but I wouldn’t mind him getting some rest if there is even the sligthtest concussion issue.
Well damn….that sucks and Najar is hurt.
Harkes scores again while Najar is down hurt. Now switching off of this sh!tshow. Leagues Cup will be fun. At least DC will get almost a month off if they don’t make it out of the group.
My only question now is how bad is this loss going to be
Not sure why I bother watching this team when they play on turf. They always lose and it always looks so bad. They have a turf practice field at their disposal.
Not as bad as they normally look in the crime of a soccer field in a baseball stadium that NYCFC calls home in Yankees stadium
And an own goal….can we just surrender now and end the game?
Oh now the Revs put it out when a United player is down injured….
I had computer issues, so in a roundabout way, couldn’t watch most of it. The frames per second rate was nauseating, but I got to see an already 4-0 up NE dominating us for a few seconds and Ian Harkes commanding them vocally like a general…
Fantastic (sarcasm)
It wasn’t bad until the end of the first half when they scored 2x. Birnbaum had to go out on a concussion sub after taking an elbow to the face from Bobby Wood. That led to 7 minutes of stoppage time for the first half. Bou scored in the 45′ then Harkes scored a 2nd in the 7 minutes of stoppage. Then Harkes banged one in off the crossbar right out of half. Then Hines-Ike had an own goal tracking back towards goal and the ball went off him.
Klich gets a 2nd yellow and is off…
And the season collapse has begun with this game.
I, luckily it seems, wasn’t able to watch the game, but this looks brutal and it’s not really a surprise to me. Arena might not be the best coach in the world, but he knows how to game plan and exploit matchups. Rooney has been forced, partially by injuries but mostly by roster design, to play people out of position a lot this season and that leaves gaps across the field (especially when you keep rotating and don’t let players settle into positions).
Current mood here: ðŸ«
Feel like a broken record at this point but this team needs wins bad. I don’t see them scraping into the playoffs like I was hoping they would. Teams seem to understand that double-marking Benteke removes ~75% of DC’s attack. Teams are still exploiting DC’s meh wingplay and DC continues to make just terrible decisions when on the ball.
I also didn’t watch — rarely skip a match, but went to Annapolis instead to watch the Blues take on Alexandria Reds, in an NPSL playoff match. Fun match. I’d say Blues may have more quality in attack than DC United. Only half kidding.
Annapolis were the better team, but didn’t have an answer for Alexandria’s speedy attackers. Fascinating how differently the teams were built. Annapolis is a lily white team, and which moves the ball pretty well. Alexandria has number of black and also Hispanic players, and more Route 1 and counter-attacking play. Still, Annapolis broke through on a long ball down the wing, pulling the keeper out, but the Blues’ striker got to the ball first, and played a centering pass setting up a shot which the lone defender couldn’t stop.
In 2nd half, Alexandria ran through the defense and the last defender took down the Reds’ winger just outside the top of the box. A red card left Annapolis in a hole and they eventually conceded after a long ball down the other side. A strange red card to one of Alexandria’s speedsters (perhaps for spitting?) gave the Blues some hope, but they soon found themselves trailing late after conceding a penalty kick.
Deep in 7 minutes of stoppage time though, the Blues finally found the back of hte net again. Late in the 2nd overtime, the Reds got another red card — apparently a second yellow, but confusion abounded because the ref had carded someone with a yellow, and only issued a red after the other officials got his attention and told him about some error — perhaps he’d carded the wrong player.
Blues had some great chances late but couldn’t beat the Reds’ keeper. That sent us to PKs. Teams traded goals, then the Blues keeper denied a shot and Blues seemed about to win, when the Reds keeper responded with a save on the 4th round. Still, the Blues keeper made another stop and the Blues put the game on ice with their 5th PK taker. A crowd of over 8,000 left very happy. I was happy to have watched a fun match, instead of watching DCU crap the bed again.
I was late to the broadcast by about 20 minutes, but started from the beginning. DCU kept IM’ing my phone with the scores. It was merciful to receive the updates and I elected to move on to something else. Gee, I wonder if the GAM and a second rounder will bag us two goals like Ian did for the Revs?