DC United saw their playoff hopes fade after they lost 2-0 to FC Cincinnati before 16,046 at Audi Field on Saturday night. Evander opened up the scoring for Cincinnati in the first half, and Tom Barlow added a goal in the second half for the visitors.

Yeah, right. We didn’t create a lot of gold coring chances, but the opponent needed. So I think we played now 2 times in Cincinet and also tonight, a good 1st half. 

“It was fine the 1st half, but yeah, down by one goal Evander was the difference. So you need some different players. We don’t have it,” an irritated René Weiler said after the match. “I’m happy with the attitude, but at the end, it wasn’t enough.”

Sean Johnson was back in the lineup after missing the match on Wednesday with a nagging leg injury that he picked up at the end of the match against the New York Red Bulls 10 days ago, but otherwise the lineup remained the same from Wednesday.

“Yeah, I started with the same lineup because I hadn’t told, or better, I…I didn’t see all the players they show me and show the older ones and show everybody that they should be on the field,” Weiler said after the match. “So they played a good game in Cincinnati. It was close and yeah, we tried to get out the better result with the same players.”

Both teams tried to figure out a way to open the game up in the first 15 minutes of the match, but the match felt tighter than it did when the teams faced each other in Cincinnati three nights earlier. In the 16th minute, DC had their first major chance of the night when Jackson Hopkins was able to flick the ball on for a fast break opportunity down the right flank. He got the ball into the box, but his cross was deflected into the air and Cincinnati was able to head the ball out of danger.

Jackson Hopkins unfortunately picked up a foot injury when he tried to head the ball towards goal in the 26th minute. He received some treatment and stayed in the match. However, in the 34th minute, he had to exit, making way for Nikola Markovic.

“It was difficult to decide who took the spot for Hopkins,” Weiler said. “I decided to bring Markwitch because of his physicality. We are strong with the set pieces. So that was in my mind that he can help when we have some crosses, draws [into the box], or in general set pieces.” 

That sub unfortunately paved the way for Cincinnati’s first major effort, and it was a doozy. Just 50 seconds later, Cincinnati was moving towards goal when the ball was passed to Evander, who unleashed a shot from 30 yards that hummed into the net to give Cincinnati the 1-0 lead 10 minutes before halftime.

Just a few minutes after the restart, Brandon Servania tried his own ambitious long range shot, putting one on net from 40 yards out. However, it went straight into the cradled arms of Roman Celentano. A couple of minutes later, he took another long range shot that went just over the bar, a close enough shot that many of the fans on that end of the field initially thought it had gone in. Cincinnati took the 1-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The second half began with DC United needing to get an equalizer. Jackson Hopkins was in a protective boot coming out of the locker room, but Weiler did not have any indication of how long he could be out. While DC United needed a goal, that need turned to desperation in the 52nd minute. On the break, Pavel Bucha got the ball forward to Evander. Evander, going down the middle of the field, was able to get the ball ahead to Tom Barlow inside the box. Barlow calmly finished past Sean Johnson to double Cincinnati’s lead.

Now, DC United was in desperate need of some goals to try and collect a result, but they weren’t able to generate much action in the attacking third. Their best chances came in second half stoppage time, when Tai Baribo had a chance on a header off a Kurokawa cross in the first minute of stoppage. That effort ultimately went over the bar. They had one more chance a few seconds before the final whistle, but Kimito Nono’s shot also went over the bar. After a couple of corner kicks, the referee blew his whistle to end the match.

“If I must be honest, the performance for us, we don’t deserve to be a playoff team. It’s not good enough,” Tai Baribo admitted after the match. “We don’t lose all hope, but for the last couple of games, obviously it’s not enough.”

No, I don’t think they did anything different,” captain Lucas Bartlett said. “They had a shot from 35 yards out and was obviously a great strike. Nothing you can do about it. But that’s the difference. That’s the quality. Once they go up one, we have to chase the game a bit [and it] opens up.”

With the loss, DC United didn’t just lose ground in the Eastern Conference standings, they also lost control of their own destiny. With three matches remaining, they are six points below the playoff line and the New York Red Bulls, who occupy that ninth and final playoff spot. The Black-and-Red likely need to win their last three matches against Toronto FC (road), Columbus Crew (road), and NYCFC (home) plus have Red Bull lose at least two matches along the way. Columbus, Toronto, and NYCFC will have to drop points even if DC United beats all three to close out the regular season. Still, the team says it’s going to fight for every point they can to put pressure on the teams above them.

“I’m not gonna pull up tents and close shop now. I got something to prove for all of us. Everybody does here at the club,” Bartlett said firmly. “So, you can’t expect to roll over and let teams take it to us just because maybe the playoff line’s tight. So, [we’ve] gotta give it all we have. [because there’s] something to prove for individuals, opportunities for guys to play, and at the end of the day, anything can happen.”