Making his first appearance in a D.C. United jersey, Alhaji Kamara was the hero as United defeated Sporting Kansas City 1-0 on Friday at Children’s Mercy Park.The 22-year-old striker from Sierra Leone scored just seconds after subbing into the game with only minutes remaining, pouncing on a misclearance from Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia, and setting a League record for fastest goal scored in a debut. With tonight’s result, United earned their first three points on the road in 2016. "The attitude was great and to get three points out of this after a long two days feels really good; I am not going to lie," head coach Ben Olsen said.
In a match delayed because of thunderstorms, both the Black-and-Red and Sporting Kansas City fielded significantly altered teams from their previous matches. In the absence of Steve Birnbaum and Álvaro Saborío (both away preparing for Copa America play), Olsen gave starts to Kofi Opare and Fabián Espíndola, while Jared Jeffrey got the nod in central midfield for Nick DeLeon, who reverted to his former wing position in place of injured Patrick Nyarko. Additionally, goalkeeper Bill Hamid made an auspicious return to the first eleven. The 2014 Goalkeeper of the Year, who had been out of action since undergoing knee surgery in January, looked sharp when tested, notably coming up with a strong reaction save to deny Saad Abdul-Salaam off a header in the 38th minute and then making a crucial stop two minutes from full time to keep the game at 1-0.
Kansas City, meanwhile, were missing U.S. regulars Matt Besler and Graham Zusi to Copa America duty. In addition, with Roger Espinoza suspended and Benny Feilhaber looking on from the bench, Peter Vermes fielded a new-look midfield of Lawrence Olum, Jordi Quintilla and Paulo Nagamura.
The early chances of the match went to Kansas City. In the eighth minute, leading goalscorer Dom Dwyer’s header went just wide right of Hamid’s goal. Ten minutes later, Brad Davis found space just inside the box and ripped a left footer just over the crossbar.
In the 20th minute, Marcelo found DeLeon with a neat chipped ball up the middle, but D.C.’s number 5 was dispossessed in the box by Ike Opara. Six minutes later, it was DeLeon again on the ball in a dangerous area, this time slipping a through ball in for a slashing Luciano Acosta, whose goal was ruled offside.
Towards the end of the first half, the hosts began to pile on the pressure. In the 38th minute, following Hamid’s save on Abdul-Salaam, Olum came close to scoring off the Davis’ corner, but his volley sailed just high.
The second half--perhaps understandably, considering the nearly hour-long lightning delay imposed at the break--started slowly, with few clear chances for either team, and remained largely uneventful until the final minutes of play. Then, in the 86th minute--just moments after subbing on for Lamar Neagle to make his MLS debut--Kamara provided the golden touch for United. An inviting Taylor Kemp cross from the left wing was mishandled by Melia and cleared poorly by the Kansas City defense. The ball fell to Kamara, who made no mistake as he settled the ball and unleashed a powerful low shot from inside the box. It was a triumphant introduction to MLS for United’s new number 45, and a happy return to football for the man who spent much of the past year sidelined with health concerns. "It was a great moment and I am so happy for him because he has been through a lot," Olsen said. "He still has a long way to go, but the one thing about him is that you can say his physical presence is real."
United now look to build on the win as they face Seattle Sounders at home on June 1, while Kansas City--now winless in nine of their last ten games--will hope to turn things around next Thursday when they visit the LA Galaxy.
