On Saturday night, DC United will return to RFK Stadium for the first time since May 26 to take on the Montreal Impact for a second time this season. In the first match, the Impact’s Bernardo Corradi scored only to be answered a couple of minutes later by Maicon Santos to end the match at a 1-1 stalemate. This time around, the Black and Red are looking for something more.
I was probably not the only United fan upset with the 1-1 result back in April. This match offers more or less a “second chance” for the team to take advantage of the expansion club from Canada. Simply put, it’s an expected three points. Montreal is a club with some talent, but they are still experiencing the growing pains of being a first-year MLS franchise. Need an example? Check out their midweek match vs. Toronto (yes THE Toronto FC). It wasn’t pretty. And now they have to travel to Washington for their next match in a couple of days. They’re going to be tired.
On the other side, after a couple of weeks of mediocre play, DC United was handled pretty well by the New York Red Bulls last week. It finally caught up to them on Saturday, so they’ll be looking to come out with better play. What United is doing well is scoring often. They are one of the leaders in MLS with 31 goals scored at the halfway point of the season and are on pace for 62 goals.
United’s defense will definitely be playing with a chip on their shoulders as NONE of them were nominated for an All-Star selection in the voting process. Montreal (with 29 goals allowed) and Toronto (with 28 goals allowed and in last place) both have at least one defensive player nominated. Now yes I know, DC United has had many injuries on the backline. But all the players who start on a normal basis (Russell, Jakovic, Woolard, and McDonald) are all definitely good enough to at least be considered on the voting sheet. I’m not saying they’re the absolute best in the league, but they’re easily good enough to be on the list. I guess the injury factor was a larger deal than it should’ve been.
The last time I practically guaranteed a win for a DC United match, they didn’t win. In fact, that may have been my April preview for the Montreal match. So I’ll withhold my cocky attitude this time. But if I were a betting man, I would be betting on DC United to get the three points on Saturday. They have a better team, a deeper bench, and have been playing great this season despite the New York match. Montreal is inconsistent and has yet to win two matches in a row this season.
IN OTHER NEWS
DC United acquired Chinese striker Long Tan from the Vancouver Whitecaps in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2015 Supplemental Draft. Tan was the first Chinese player to sign with MLS.
I was a little confused with this trade initially. The Black and Red already have a deep core of strikers. With Pontius, De Rosario, Salihi, Santos, and player/coach Josh Wolff playing as strikers, why sign another player? And I think that’s a great question to ask. Tan is just 24 years old which means this could be a signing for the future instead of the present. If fans remember, he scored a match-winner against DC when he played for Vancouver last season. He’s a solid player, but I don’t see him getting much time this season with the group of guys we have up top already unless some major injuries happen in the second half of the season. Knock on wood.
(image courtesy of DC United)
