WASHINGTON – D.C. United have won eight of their 11 league matches contested so far at Audi Field.
In Saturday’s win over the Montreal Impact, however, the Black-and-Red went a step further, truly rattling an opponent and killing the match off with a half-hour still to play.
While the 5-0 score may have flattered a D.C. side that was fortunate to get to halftime with a 1-0 lead, United’s second-half ruthlessness will provide opponents something new to think about.
That specter comes at just the right time for United, who still play their next four matches at home in their push for the postseason before wrapping up with a Decision Day fixture at the Chicago Fire.
“It gives you confidence,” explained Wayne Rooney, who scored his second MLS brace in the contest. “But also, when you do that on a more regular basis, you finish teams off, teams get a bit more wary and they don’t actually go for it in the final stages of games.”
Perhaps only Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls have shown that kind of late-game savagery on a regular basis, one reason they’ve been the two sides battling for the Supporters’ Shield this season.
And the Impact have some history of unraveling after halftime earlier this year, during a stretch in which they lost eight of nine matches. They’ve now conceded 34 of their 52 goals in the second half.
That said, those final 45 minutes also displayed D.C.’s ability to dictate a tactical shift, from a deep-lying posture in the opening 45 minutes to a high-pressure approach in the second half.
“I don’t know if they were expecting us to have another half of sitting back and trying to counter,” D.C. coach Ben Olsen said. “I don’t think that would’ve went so well, because it wasn’t going well for 20 minutes there when we were under the gun.”
It also displayed Olsen’s club’s ability to handle such a search-and-destroy mission – particularly Luciano Acosta, who with a goal and three assists is working his way into the MLS MVP conversation. His 16 assists now lead the league, including six contributed in his last three matches.
“He was growing, but he has certainly changed the trajectory of his growth over the last couple months,” Olsen said.
Throughout his post-match comments, Olsen reminded reporters that one emphatic result won’t mean anything if his side don’t build on it with another performance on Sunday at home against Chicago (1 pm ET | ESPN – Full TV and streaming info), who themselves are improved recently.
D.C. believe that if they keep their heads, though, they can not only win matches, but rattle their opponents in the process.
“We know that they’re going to walk into this stadium with confidence,” goalkeeper Bill Hamid said of the Fire. “And we have to do our best to kill off that confidence as quickly and as early as possible.”
