D.C. United looks to snap back to form after a painful 4-1 loss to Orlando City last week. Tonight’s opponent, Columbus Crew, will be another tough test for the Black-and-Red.
While the matchup in Orlando marked D.C.’s first loss of the season, the Black-and-Red are reflecting, taking stock, and moving forward.
Head coach Troy Lesesne acknowledged that D.C. hadn’t played with their usual tenacity against Orlando and said, “It starts and stops with me… I have to step up and take responsibility for us not being in our identity and our way with full aggression like we usually have.” Now, Lesesne said, is the time to “Get back to work — that’s the name of the game. We reflected, and now we get back to being ourselves.”
While D.C. United is on the hunt for a playoff berth this season; the 2023 MLS Cup Champions, the Crew, are unbeaten in 2025 and looking to return to top form in the league. Columbus enters tonight’s game looking to snag more points after a scoreless draw with New York City FC last week.
As for the Black-and-Red, Lesesne feels tonight is a chance to flip the script. He said, “When you have the opportunity to play against a team like Columbus off of a performance you’re not happy about, it’s a wonderful opportunity.”
Hear everything head coach Troy Lesesne had to say in the pre-game press conference here.
Let us know your thoughts about tonight’s match in the comments below and be sure to join us live here during the game to chat with your fellow supporters.
Key Player: Christian Benteke
Rock-solid Benteke has tallied three goals so far this season and is well on his way to a repeat of his 2024 Golden Boot title. Benteke has been integral to D.C. United’s attack, and with Gabriel Pirani, João Peglow, and Jared Stroud up top for support, he is on his way to becoming unstoppable.
Watch Out For: Diego Rossi
D.C.’s defense will need to watch out for Rossi, who has repeatedly found the back of the net for the Crew this season. The veteran striker has been a danger throughout his career, previously playing for LAFC.
Challenges: The Black-and-Red will need to overcome last week’s loss and regain momentum to continue the journey toward a playoff berth.
Previously: D.C. and Columbus played to a 2-2 draw at Audi Field in September of 2024.
D.C. United Availability:
Out: Jackson Hopkins (ankle)
Questionable: Hakim Karamoko (abdomen), Randall Leal (thigh), Conner Antey (knee)
Columbus Crew Availability:
Out: Rudy Camacho (thigh), Nicholas Hagen (hand)
Questionable: None
Location: Audi Field, Washington, D.C.
Kickoff time: 7:30 pm ET
Referee: Chris Penso
Available streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Golazo for Rossi. When I was talking about chipping Joon, that was not what I had in mind.
Looks to be a pretty lucky deflection, but was rather spectacular
Took a bit of a deflection as well.
Murrell for Stroud and Enow for Kijima….great our double pivot just got worse…
And there’s a lot of defensive players on yellows.
I’m not gonna say that peltola and Kijima were perfect together, but I sure liked that combo much more than some of the other options
And I think they’ll get better if they’re allowed to gain chemistry
Dodson picks up a yellow…and now 3 out of 4 in our defense with a yellow….that’s not good.
I can see us going down to 10 if not 9….
Mystified by decision to bring on Enow.
Lesesne: We need to avoid a collapse, and make some good decisions on the field… time to not do that with this sub
Badji for Peltola….wondering what our formation is now…
Guessing a 4-4-2 diamond
4-2-4, and one of the two is Pirani…
Peglow picks up a yellow.
Murrell’s first touch kills a promising attack.
That Murrell pass was quite bad
He’s had some big plays this season, in that individual case, that’s really unfortunate when we need a goal
Admittedly, he miss-hit that
Can soccer advantage be like rugby advantage and we come back to a free kick for one of those 3 fouls that Schnegg just drove through?
The ref can do that
Murrell did the bad thing again
His passing in the final 3rd can use some work….
My friend “Nobody’s holding a gun to your head to be a DC United fan.”
I think this is his non-subtle way to suggest I get help 🤣
Another attack dies when it gets to Murrell in the attacking 3rd…
Ref has to add time for this….
Badji mishits the cross….
I came into this game assuming it would be a loss. Honestly thought it would be much worse than it was. I thought dc played well overall, and deserved a point out of that. So in a way, the game went better than I was expecting. They played decently well against a good team
I figured this would be a devastating loss, and it was only a mind numbing one.
That said, DC United is the death of unpredictable results, and blood charging performances, I’ve seen this exact final fifteen minutes way too many times.
First time in the Lesesne era I’ve heard widespread boos at the end of the match. The second half went from poor to dire, and threw away a lot of goodwill from a solid 1st half performance. This isn’t a hopeless group of players, but the team is thin and the spine is very weak in-between Benteke and Joon; and if they’re tiring out after 60 now, imagine what it will look like in July. O.o
We’re in for a rough season…and might be looking at wooden spoon territory at that point…
Any top collegiate prospects good enough to tank a season for?
Encouraging loss?? Hardly
This team has lots of hustle but lacks precision. This is why they create chances but can’t finish. This lack of precision probably comes from only having one designated player.
Peltola looked better than Enow even though he did make a few mistakes.
Pirani was played up the field more and looked more comfortable with some space. That said his turnover was preventable.