D.C. United’s Luciano Acosta is tripped up by the L.A. Galaxy’s Jelle Van Damme during (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
It had been a month since D.C. United last scored at home, five weeks since it had converted in the run of play.
“I thought it was going in,” the rookie midfielder said.
Except it didn’t, because scrambling defender Ashley Cole stuck his left foot in the way, and because, frankly, the ball rarely crosses the threshold for United these days.
United (4-7-3) did a lot of things well in the second half before 17,730 at RFK Stadium. For the second consecutive game, D.C. created quality chances and put the visitors on their heels. A makeshift back line silenced a Galaxy side (5-5-3) that had scored nine goals in three straight away victories.
It was all flowing United’s way, except for the pesky matter of putting the ball into the net.
“It’s very frustrating,” midfielder Jared Jeffrey said. “Sometimes it feels like there is a force field in front of the goal.”
Despite the encouraging performance, United was blanked at RFK for the fourth straight time and sixth in eight home dates. It has gone scoreless in five of the past six games in general, nine times overall, and, with 10 goals, sits at the bottom of MLS’s 22-team scoring chart.
“If we continue to play that way, the wins will start to come and the goals will come,” Coach Ben Olsen said. “Sometimes it takes a game, or one goal, to unleash that stuff. We’re having a little bit of trouble getting that first one right now. It will come.”
It almost came in the second half. Luciano Acosta tagged the crossbar in the 72nd minute and, after Harker's threat, Kofi Opare missed a clear header on the final sequence of the match. As the final whistle sounded, Opera put his hands to his face and dropped to his knees.
“It’s definitely a good sign,” midfielder Lloyd Sam said of the sustained spirit and improving number of opportunities. “We weren’t having the chances before. Some guys weren’t so happy we didn’t win the game, but we are going in the right direction. Our previous home games were nothing like this. We looked a lot better today.”
Goals notwithstanding, United enjoyed a decent week: four points from three matches over eight days, including two games on the road. With an undermanned squad, Olsen received quality starts from young defenders Chris Odoi-Atsem (Wednesday in Orlando) and Jalen Robinson (Saturday).
As one regular returned against the Galaxy (midfielder Patrick Nyarko), another departed (defender Steve Birnbaum, with a minor knee injury suffered Wednesday).
With Birnbaum out and Bobby Boswell in reserve with a lingering groin ailment, Olsen paired Opera and Robinson (fourth career league start) in central defense. It marked the third time since the start of the 2015 season — a span of 82 league matches — with neither Birnbaum nor Boswell in the lineup.
The Galaxy was missing several regulars as well, and with the two primary goalkeepers unavailable, Jon Kempin made his first start since late 2015.
United’s energy and ambition were in place in the first half; the attacking quality was not. The second half was much better.
Kempin spilled Taylor Kemp’s wicked effort from distance, but the scrambling Galaxy blocked Jeffrey’s rebound bid.
In a two-minute span, United’s Bill Hamid touched two threatening headers by Dave Romney over the crossbar.
Acosta intercepted a pass and danced to the top of the penalty area before rifling his shot off the crossbar. Near the end, Harkes and Opare fell short.
“We’ve played some good stuff,” Olsen said, reflecting on the week. “We’ve been unlucky in front of goal, and we picked up an away win. It’s not doom and gloom.”
United is off until June 13 for a U.S. Open Cup fourth-round match against Christos FC, an adult amateur team from Baltimore, at Maryland SoccerPlex.
