Decision Day ends in disappointment for D.C. United with a 3-0 loss to Charlotte FC
Featured image courtesy of D.C. United, Hannah Wagner.
D.C. United’s playoff hopes were dashed after a 3-0 Decision Day loss to Charlotte FC. The Black-and-Red played their final match of the season in front of a sold-out home crowd of 19,365 at Buzzard Point.
Always a class act, Christian Benteke made an early attempt, taking a shot from the right of the box, to open the scoring for D.C. United. Although Charlotte’s Kristijan Kahlina saved Benteke’s ‘warm up’ shot, the crowd was on their feet, roaring with excitement.
The Black-and-Red kept the pressure on Charlotte from the whistle, pushing play into the visitor’s defensive half. Despite their best efforts and another solid attempt by Benteke in the 24′, the Crown’s defenses held them off the entire first half.
For their part, Charlotte made a solid attempt to best Alex Bono and D.C. United’s defense with a slew of set pieces and an attempt in the 31′ by Júnior Urso. Fortunately for the Black-and-Red, Bono neatly saved his shot.
Golden Boot winner Benteke finally found the back of the net in the 39′, and the stadium was absolutely deafening as the crowd took to their feet. Alas, the flag was up.
As the halftime whistle sounded, D.C. and Charlotte remained locked in a scoreless draw.
Into the second half, the Crown continued their efforts to shut down a noticeably frustrated Benteke. Dean Smith’s men pulled back into a five-man backline to stymie the striker and cut down on his space to create opportunities for the Black-and-Red.
D.C. United continued to exert pressure on Charlotte, but in a quick turnaround, danger man Pep Biel got his left foot on a well-placed ball from Brandt Bronico in the 58′. Slinging a shot into the lower right-hand corner of the net past a diving Alex Bono, Biel put the Crown in the lead.
Charlotte’s defense locked down the Black-and-Red’s attack, closing off just about any breathing room in the box after Biel’s goal. Taking advantage of D.C.’s frustration, the Crown laid on the pressure to double the lead. Patrick Agyemang tipped in a shot from the top of the box in the 75′.
The visitors extended their lead yet again with a stoppage-time goal in the 90’+1′ from Liel Abada, tying a bow on Charlotte’s win.
Both Troy Lesesne and Christian Benteke expressed their gratitude for supporters and their disappointment at the end of the 2024 season.
Lesesne said, “I want to say a massive thank you to our supporters. I think that’s the first thing that I want to start with because they’ve shown up for us all year. They’ve showed up for us whenever it looked like we were completely out of the picture. They showed up for us whenever we, obviously instilled a little bit of hope back in them to get ourselves a chance to push through, and I don’t think we showed up enough for them this year, especially at home.”
Benteke echoed Lesesne’s sentiments, saying, “First of all, I just want to say thank you. They’ve been with us through ups and downs, and I think they deserve more. They deserve more than what we gave them during the season and even more tonight.”
D.C. United was eliminated from playoff contention after its loss to Charlotte FC, and results from across the Eastern Conference sealed its fate.
Alas, we go again in 2025.
Watch the highlights from D.C. United vs. Charlotte FC
Box Score
MLS Regular Season – Decision Day
D.C. United: 0
Charlotte FC: 3 Biel 58′, Agyemang 75′, Abada 90’+1′
Lineups
D.C. United: Alex Bono, Lucas Bartlett, Pedro Santos (David Schnegg 60′), Aaron Herrera, Christopher McVey (Matti Peltola 79′), Jared Stroud (Dominique Badji 67′), Gabriel Pirani, Martín Rodríguez (Boris Enow 66′), Ted Ku-DiPietro (Cristian Dájome 60′), Mateusz Klich, Christian Benteke
Charlotte FC: Kristijan Kahlina, Tim Ream (Jere Uronen 76′), Nathan Byrne, Adilson Malanda, Ashley Westwood, Pep Biel (Liel Abada 76′), Brandt Bronico, Junior Urso (Djibril Diani 76′), Andrew Privett, Kerwin Vargas (Jamie Paterson 84′), Patrick Agyemang (Karol Swiderski 83′)
Misconduct Summary
D.C. United: Rodríguez 10′
Charlotte FC: Kahlina 79′
It sucks to admonish him after such a monumental season, but a large part of the blame for us not going ahead in the first half has to sit with Benteke. Other forwards had offside moments, but Pirani had a few good plays to set him away, and he was clearly offside to kill the play. Charlotte have a disciplined backline, but it wasn’t a step up that was ruining us. It was forward runs, and Benteke was the leading culprit.
In the second half, combination of Charlotte sitting back more and woeful crossing led to United overcommitting numbers forward to get a goal… when all we needed was a draw. The very least you need in this game is a decent rest defense, and we clearly fell apart in that regard in the second half. In fairness to the backline, the midfield wasn’t in position, nor were the forwards causing enough havoc to keep the opponent pinned. We could have conceded 5 with the fucking mess our shape was in that second half.
I just thought, weeks ago, that the squad didn’t have enough quality to challenge for the playoffs, but challenge they did. The uptick died with shitty organization and understanding of what the game needed. We needed to learn to beat the offside line, we needed to keep our heads and not overcommit forward in the second.
The season might have been a mixed bag, that performance was a total failure
Watching that first half, it was so predictable how the game would play out. We’ve seen it a lot. DC United were very wasteful of great opportunities and the defense is so vulnerable to a counter-attack. As a Tottenham fan it all feels very familiar, like Ange-ball with defenders who aren’t up to the challenge. If you’re going to play like that, you need to be more precise with your finishing, and more disciplined about the offside line. Benteke didn’t need to be off on either chance, as he probably would have gotten the pass behind the defense, even if he’d held his run a bit. I can’t blame him for that early miss, because he’s not that great with his feet, especially at full-tilt. The volley attempt? He’s done that over and over, and hasn’t come close. He might want to reconsider that. He can be dominant in this league, if he plays a more disciplined game, and that includes avoiding the constant fouls and cards. We’ve got him next year. Hopefully, they recruit stronger attackers, but he will have to be less wasteful.
I am so bummed right now. I just love the commitment and work that this team shows, how bought in to Lesesne’s system they are. And then to get this result.
They do not lack commitment, I agree. It was fun to watch on Apple TV even though I had already learned of the result. The crowd seemed very engaged and the first half was a solid effort. The bottom fell out, and more effort resulted in more falling out. A distinct improvement over last year. So many points left on the table.
Also, I think refs managed the game fairly. Some things were let go, but it seemed egalitarian in application.
I am so conflicted with how this season went. On one hand, it’s objectively a good season given the results in recent years. On the other hand, it feels like DC underachieved, in my opinion. Just had to draw at home to get a playoff spot. And how many points given away from winning positions?
This is a sentiment I’ll repeat during this offseason. I’m not convinced with Lesesne’s ability to get this team organized without the ball. I hope I’m proven wrong, but the midfield and defense were pretty poor for most of the season. I hope Lesesne can learn from the various low points from this season.
I like a lot of what Lesesne has brought to the team, but Jason Anderson’s analysis at the end of August (suggesting that Lesesne wants to run a very aggressive tactical system with both full/wingbacks pushing up and only 2 1/2 guys dedicated to cover) made me think of Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle, and I’m rather frightened that nothing about the end-of-season run in dissuaded me from this comparison. Firewagon football doesn’t have a great track record.
“Alas, we go again in 2025.”
That is a painful thought.
[…] Decision Day ends in disappointment for D.C. United with a 3-0 loss to Charlotte FC (DP) […]
Man. What a bummer way to end the season.
Definitely need a lot of work on the defensive end going into next season. The roster obviously needs a lot of work as well. I hope that Mackay can do some good, and early, work this offseason but it was concerning to me that only four Mackay players started the game (five if you count Pirani). Enow and Peltola were relatively big buys yet they both got beat out by Rodriguez playing out of position as the DM. And, as others have stated, our lack of fullback depth played a major part in missing out on the playoffs. In hindsight, Badji was probably superfluous and they should have used his spot on another fullback.
Oh well. It was a better season than last year. At least the players seemed like they cared.
[…] been a lot of change for D.C. United since they crashed out on decision day, losing 3-0 to Charlotte FC. A new kit, a plethora of roster additions and departures – you get the […]