D.C. United is back on the road to face FC Cincinnati after splitting points with the New England Revolution at home on Wednesday.
The Black-and-Red will look to win the second game in the series after losing 1-0 at home to Cincy back in April. They’ll need to dig deep as Christian Benteke remains sidelined due to an ankle injury as D.C. United lingers in 13th place in the Eastern Conference.
D.C. will look to Gabriel Pirani, João Peglow, Hosei Kijima, Jacob Murrell, and others to fill the void left by Benteke’s absence. Head coach Troy Lesesne lauded Pirani’s effort in recent matches, saying, “Gabby’s a special player. He makes special plays, and we need more of those… he can recognize time and space and either go himself or set a teammate up.”
Meanwhile, Pat Noonan’s team aims to bounce back from a midweek 3-3 draw with FC Dallas. They remain undefeated at home and will be looking for a win tonight to close out the series with D.C. United on a strong note.
Cincy sits in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference, just three points behind Philadelphia Union. A win tonight could elevate them to the top of the table. D.C. United will need to inject creativity into their attack to generate chances and maintain discipline defensively to overcome the strong Cincinnati side.
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: Gabriel Pirani
Pirani’s heroics were responsible for D.C. collecting a point midweek from the match against New England. Lesesne and his squad will rely on Pirani to step up in Benteke’s absence to keep the Black-and-Red’s attack strong.
Watch Out For: Evander
Evander, one of the most dangerous playmakers in MLS, is poised to give Cincinnati an edge over D.C. United. He boasts seven goals and four assists in his last 14 appearances.
Challenges: D.C. United must build on recent defensive stability, create more clear-cut chances, and stay relentless in their pursuit of points… all without star striker Christian Benteke on the pitch.
Previously: D.C. United and FC Cincinnati last met in April at Audi Field. The visitors dealt the Black-and-Red a 1-0 loss.
FC Cincinnati Availability:
Out: Nick Hagglund (chest), Yuya Kubo (leg)
Questionable: None
D.C. United Availability:
Out: Christian Benteke (ankle)
Questionable: Kim Joon Hong (hip/knee), Jackson Hopkins (hip), Lukas McNaughton (thigh), Garrison Tubbs (thigh)
Location: TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Kickoff time: 7:30 pm ET
Referee: Alexis Da Silva
Available streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Thanks, Sarah. I’ll be eagerly watching tonight.
Pirani gets the start over Kijima, Peltola in for Seevania, and Antley for Dodson
Well this sucks before technical difficulties struck the broadcast, Old Glory was up 17-7 in the 27′. Been seeing technical difficulties for almost 20 minutes now.
Got an update courtesy of the OGDC Supporters FB group. Apparently they lost power at the Maryland Soccerplex stadium. Last update on there from 11 mins ago is 22-14 in favor of Old Glory DC. OGDC has scored 4 tries now and will get at least a bonus point out of that in the standings.
Old Glory DC falls 38-32 to LA. 2 standings bonus pts for OGDC in the loss => 1 for scoring 4 or more tries in the game and 1 for losing by 7 or less.
oops missed a score 42-32…so only 1 bonus point
DCU Starting XI: Murrell, Pirani, Peglow, Enow, Peltola, Antley, Herrera, Rowles, Bartlett, Schnegg, Barraza
Bench: Badji, Dodson, Farr, Fletcher, Kijima, Leal, Servania, Stroud, Zouhir
PIRANI!!!
Wow, what technique from Pirani.
1-0 DC!
I think its the first time that Pirani has scored in back to back games, but I could be off on that.
Damn Cincy equalizes.
Antley! Woh where’s this coming from?
That’s a goal and an assist for Pirani so far this game.
Pirani to Antley… damn, what a game Gabriel is having
I thought he looked really good when he came in last game, even before the goal. Glad he was rewarded with a start, he’s clearly really feeling it right now
Did Lesesne tell the team we need to actually shoot on occasion? Night and day (though admittedly missed last game)
We’re making the Cincy box a shooting gallery, where has this been?
Gotta say, Cincy seem a mere shadow of the competitive side they were when Acosta was driving forward for them. And we’re not playing at home, so maybe we avoid the collapse this time??
*knocks on wood*
I call bullshit if that’s a penalty.
How the fuck is that a potential handball on Bartlett?
I think we might be getting away with one, not Peltola’s tackle, but the one of Bartlett on Yedlin
Not good that Peltola is still down.
I’d feel hard done by that if I were a Cincy fan, but as a DC fan, I think it’s the right call
Peltola gets a yellow.
Deserved, but what a weird looking yellow on Peltola.
He made himself straight as a board in the air, and landed on the entire back of the Cincy player. Bizarre
6 minutes of 1st half stoppage
I guess Enow felt we were doing too well, skies a very low percentage shot
Well, I have head out to something, unfortunately. Look forward to reading what y’all said afterward
Pirani, Peltola, Murrel off, Stroud, Servania, and Badji on
Dang I completely forgot that Brad Smith had 16 appearances for DCU in 2022….
He was coming on and I had a moment of, “Did he play for us briefly or was that a weird MLS fever dream?”
I think Servania is lucky to only see yellow there.
Orellano is causing lots of problems since he’s come on.
I’m late to the commentary. A few random thoughts,. Kye Rowles drew his league-leading 7th yellow, and I was shocked to learn that Boris Enow was not the league leader in the race for that dubious distinction.
United’s press has been nore aggressive and really good, much better than it has looked at any time this year.
If Pirani starts to play like a young DP, things look very different for DC. He was definitely more incisive and precise, though he missed one good chance with a shot right at Celentano.
I thought Antley was offside on his goal, but no matter since they didn’t call it.He made a nice run to be available for Pirani, but I thought maybe their timing was bit off…that he’d gone past the defender. In any case, delightful to see the team with some real ideas on set pieces.
Still almost 20 minutes left, but it’s pretty cool that DC United are winning, and deservedly so.
Zouhir for Enow…Barraza getting looked at by DCU staff and the MLS MD.
BTW I’m really liking what we see with Barraza. Steve Clark had some moments, but this might be the most solid goalkeeping we’ve seen since Bill Hamid’s heydays.
He’s been much better than Steve Clark was. Bono and Miller both had some very good stretches, but Barraza has been quite good. It’s actually turning itself into sort of a problem. His contract only runs through this year, and he’s playing like he deserves another one. But there have also been lots of resources poured into Kim Joon Hong, and maybe the team wants to roll with him. But so far Joon hasn’t really shown the consistency, which is still understandable based on his age and new life experiences.
6 mins of stoppage and its all hands on deck defending.
Hideous giveaway by Zouhir — just a careless, though positive pass attempt. But, DC United survive it.
Badji puts the dagger off the post, but he’s offside…but it was close. Badji picks up a yellow for kicking the ball away.
Zouhir picks up a yellow for going into the back of Kamara before the ball had come down.
I do kinda wish that DCU had the kind of team and confidence to play for a 3rd goal. Maybe Zouhir’s misplay might have turned out to be a nice job in pushing the attack, but his teammates were’t on that page.
And, as I write this, Badji had a breakaway chance….
Full time! And DCU upsets Cincy and breaks their home unbeaten record.
Also Loudoun United defeated Lousiville City 2-1 in the Jägermeister group stage match this evening at Segra.
In the what now?
USL Jägermeister Cup