D.C. United are set to play against Orlando City SC in their 28th match of the 2021 Major League Soccer (MLS) Regular Season on Saturday, October 2, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET. D.C. United will look to build from the dominant performance in their last match when they travel to Exploria Stadium on Saturday night.
D.C. United are coming into Saturday’s match after a 3-1 midweek win over Minnesota United FC. The Black-and-Red asserted dominance over the visitors to maintain their winning streak at Audi Field. The game scoring started in the 20th minute after Andy Najar was taken down in the box, and a penalty was awarded and converted by Ola Kamara for the 1-0 lead. In the 40th minute, Minnesota found an equalizer after United defender Bakaye Dibassy’s header. However, the goal didn’t go unanswered, as D.C. United took back the lead in the 45th minute when Kamara beat two defenders on the right wing and found Gressel in the box who rifled home to make it 2-1 heading into halftime.
The Black-and-Red resumed the match with the same intensity in the second half. Russell Canouse was fouled in the area, and another penalty was awarded. Kamara went to take it, but Tyler Miller stopped his effort. In a quick turnaround, Bill Hamid made an acrobatic save to deny Minnesota the chance of an equalizer. Paul Arriola looked to double United’s lead after a curling effort into the right corner, but the goal was ruled offside after a VAR review. D.C. United were still on the hunt for another goal, and the breakthrough came in the 85th minute when Edison Flores found second-half substitute Júnior Moreno on the top of the box for his first career goal for D.C. United.
D.C. United have an all-time record of 6-5-2 against Orlando City SC. The last time the two teams played was earlier in the season, on May 16 at Audi Field. The visitors came out on top with a 1-0 victory with an early goal from Mauricio Pereyra.
Head Coach Hernán Losada on the Upcoming Match:
“I would like to end up third at the end of the week after Saturday’s game. Every point is important. Every game is important, and we need to keep focus and be humble. We need to keep working, to see the little details, and try to stay fit...There’s not much time to recover, but for sure, we want to go full of hope and energy…I told the team, a good offense wins games, but a good defense wins championships.”
D.C. United’s next match is at Exploria Stadium against Orlando City on Saturday, October 2, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. Tune into NBC Sports Washington Plus, TeleXitos, and www.dcunited.com to watch the match.
