D.C. United suffer there second loss of the season at home to Columbus

After suffering their first loss of the season last weekend in convincing fashion on the road in Orlando last weekend, D.C. United were looking to bounce back from the negative result and look to get back to winning ways at home Saturday night, against one of the best teams in MLS the Columbus Crew.

In front 17,048 fans in attendance at Audi Field, D.C. would put on one of their best performances of the season, going toe-to-toe with the Crew and even taking an early lead. However, Columbus was able to navigate the close affair and take all three points to Ohio, with a final scoreline of 2-1.

“I thought we went toe to toe” said D.C. United head coach Troy Lesesne “I’m not by any means saying that’s good enough, because we have to have a result on the end of a good performance. But it’s something we can build off.”

Joao Peglow Midfielder for D.C. United. Photo Credit: D.C. United

The Game

Columbus would have the first big scoring opportunity on a counterattack when Dejuan Jones sent a through pass to Max Arfsten, who was wide open in the middle of the field. Arfsten would run all the way into D.C. area, where he laid off the ball to Diego Rossi, who forced goalkeeper Joon Hong Kim into a double save.

D.C. would open up the scoring in the 13th minute. A long pass from Aaron Herrera from the midfield found a sprinting Joao Peglow, who was marching towards the Crew's penalty box. The Brazilian winger cut back inside the box beating the mark of two Columbus defenders and pokes the ball to Christian Benteke who settled the ball and placed a low shot into the left corner of Patrick Shulte goal to net his fourth goal of the season.

“If [at] halftime it’s 3-0 for us, it’s a fair result,” Benteke said. “But once again we couldn’t finish them.”

Columbus would have an answer three minutes later. On a Columbus corner that was cleared out by Lucas Bartlett, the ball found its way to Gabriel Pirani, who carried the ball out of his own area and marched towards the other end of the field. The Brazilian midfielder was being chased by Sean Zawadski, who forced Pirani's pass to be intercepted by Arfsten. Arfsten played the ball wide to Dylan Chambost, playing a through ball inside the box to Andres Herrera. Herrera cut the ball back to a waiting Rossi, who let off a one-timer that bounced off Kim's hand and into the back of the net.

United was delt a huge blow in the 33rd minute when Herrera had to be subbed off for Derek Dodson due to a calf injury.

D.C. had a chance to take the lead close to halftime after Benteke won a 50/50 ball heading the ball to Pirani, who passed the ball to his country man Peglow, leaving him one on one with Schulte. Peglow tried to put his shot passed Schulte but would go wide of the net.

Columbus would also get one more opportunity to take the lead at the halftime on a buildup, which fell to the feet of Jacen Russell-Rowe, who got a one-time shot at goal. However, Kim was equal to the shot getting his left foot to the ball, the ensuing rebound was cleared by David Schnegg, who bounced the ball off a Crew forward and out of play.

D.C. started off the more aggressive side at the start of the second half. Creating goal scoring opportunities down the right-hand side. One of the best chances that United had to take the lead came down the right-hand side from Dodson, who played a ball across the box to Benteke, however the Belgian striker shot was stopped by Schulte and sent out for a corner kick.

"I thought it was one of our best performances to get to the final third." said Lesesne "I was really happy on how we brought the ball into their half."

Columbus would take the lead in the 65th minute. Rossi took a shot from distance; the ball would take a deflection off of Hosei Kijima. The ball would float over Kim and dropped into the back of the net for the Uruguayan's brace and fourth goal of the season.

D.C. would create several chances in front of goal but were not able to find the finishing touch in the final third to tie the game.

“Just didn’t have the final product,” said Jared Stroud. “We played really good soccer. It’s a good performance, but it’s about results.”

With this result D.C now falls to twelfth place in the Eastern Conference with six points, while Columbus is tied in second place of the conference with twelve points.

D.C. United travel to Northern California, where they visit PayPal Park to take on the San Jose Earthquakes next Sunday April 6th. Kickoff is scheduled for 5pm.