In another showdown between Major League Soccer founding members, D.C. United face the Columbus Crew at RFK on Saturday, March 18 at 7PM. The Black-and-Red look to snatch their first win of the season against a team they haven’t lost to at home since 2015, while the Crew (0-1-1) also look for their first three points in an Eastern Conference matchup.
Historically, D.C. hold a slim lead over Columbus in head-to-head regular season matchups with an overall record of 27-26-11, but at RFK, United have fared much better, only dropping nine games to Columbus in their 33 meetings (20-9-4).
The Black-and-Red had one of their strongest showings of last season against Crew SC in a 3-0 rout at RFK in late September off second half goals from Lloyd Sam, Lamar Neagle and Álvaro Saborío. The win was United’s biggest margin of victory against Columbus since 2001 and was the second of a four-game winning streak that helped fuel their playoff push and close out the regular season in strong fashion.
The Crew return most of their statistical leaders from 2016, including forward Ola Kamara, who led Columbus’ attack with 16 goals last season and longtime midfield incumbents Wil Trapp and Federico Higuain. After Columbus conceded 58 goals last season (their most since 2008) and missed the playoffs on the heels of an Audi MLS Cup run in 2015, the Crew worked to boost their back line in the offseason, acquiring defenders Jonathan Mensah and Jukka Raitala.
Mensah, 26, an accomplished central defender who started in matches in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups for Ghana, has started both matches so far this season but will miss the matchup after getting a red card in the 87th minute against the Houston Dynamo last week. Raitala, 28, is an outside back that has made over 30 appearances for the Finnish national team, including 10 in 2016. Crew SC coach Gregg Berhalter will hope that the moves will be enough to fix what was a leaky defense and point of weakness for the team in 2016.
Following a loss to New York City FC at Yankee Stadium last Sunday and a scoreless draw against Sporting KC before that, United look to reignite their offense against Crew SC’s new-look back line in their first match of a three-game home stand at RFK. Forward Patrick Mullins will be the first line of offense, while dangerous wingers Lloyd Sam and Patrick Nyarko will look to get on the ball early and often to create havoc out wide.
With new faces in the Columbus defense and new captains on both sides of the ball (Birnbaum and Crew’s Wil Trapp), look for a high-energy match between two of the Eastern Conference’s oldest teams in their 65th all-time meeting.
