DC United Holds on for 2-1 Win over Red Bull Then Loses to Orlando 4-1

It’s still early in the playoff gauntlet but DC United’s probability of success will be determined in the next four days. They travel to Cincinnati Wednesday and host the same squad at Audi Filed on Saturday. 4 or 6 points will give them reasonable hope to make the playoffs. Anything less will force them to storm over the three remaining rivals all of whom are similarly situated in the tight playoff race.

United prevailed against Red Bull somewhat against the run of play after playing a man short after Lucas Bartlett received his second caution in the 68th minute for time wasting. United Coach Rene Weiler explained the value of tenacity, “The first half we defended most of the time, but we defended well. I like the fighting spirit of everybody. Of course, a little bit lucky at the end.”

Bartlett’s sitting out against Orlando will at least have him rested for Wednesday’s game while Matti Peltola and Nikola Markovic were notably not subbed in in Orlando, perhaps to have them fresh for Cincinnati. Jackson Hopkins and Joao Peglow split time there as well, contributing to the concept of time management during the stretch. Oscar Avilez and Jared Stroud also split time.

Avilez was coming off an excellent performance against RBNY when he was praised by Weiler, “This kid is 16 years old, so it was a great performance. The expectations weren’t so high, but he did really well. He was involved, he scored the goal, and both goals he was involved, and yeah, he defended well. For me, great performance, great first performance, and happy for him at his age.”

United had to contend with a second strong Florida team as Orlando has rebounded from early season woes with the addition of Antoine Griezmann who scored two goals and assisted on another. He clearly had permission to wander about seeking opportunities, to good effect.

There was a similar, though not as wide, permission given to Avilez against RBNY as he was encouraged to take an aggressive role. As he described it, “They just gave me the free road to, you know, express myself and go get the dogs.” He noted how Weiler prepared him, “They really pushed me to the max. I think I’ve been prepared. It’s been a year since I signed, and they prepared me for this moment, and I’m glad we got through it.”

United took only 4 shots to get their 2 goals against Red Bull while Red Bull took 24 to get their 1. Silvan Hefti, referring to Sean Johnson’s long career, gave him primary credit in this instance, “It’s unbelievable. He can be very proud, and I think everybody thinks that.”

Looking to the gauntlet following the RBNY game, Weiler noted, “It’s about the workload. We have to change, of course, the starting 11. Some other players didn’t play so much. The workload, I have to manage it with the team.” So far, he appears to be on track.

Weiler has been careful to keep expectations for the playoffs in check while still striving to have a post season, ”When I compare all squads in the league, then I don’t think that we have the best squad. But we are still alive, six, seven rounds before the end, and that is very positive. Some people they are dreaming a little bit about, of course, the success in the past, but we have to accept the reality, and of course we want to come back to the old DC United, but today with that squad, this is very positive that we are still alive and are fighting.”

How well United’s players stand up under pressure will determine this season’s fate.

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