In their 33rd match of the 2021 Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season, D.C. United fell 3-1 against Columbus Crew SC at Audi Field in their last home match of the regular season. United dropped to eighth place with 44 points in the Eastern Conference with one match left to play.
The Black-and-Red had a quick start to the game, taking the lead in the third minute. Felipe played a lofted pass over Columbus Crew’s backline that found Paul Arriola, whose half-volley found the top right corner to beat Eloy Room.
In the 33rd minute, Columbus played a long ball to Miguel Berry that left him one-on-one against Bill Hamid, who blocked the near-post shot. Tony Alfaro's slide tackle on Lucas Zelarayán was then judged as a penalty with the Argentine converting the spot kick for the equalizer on the cusp of halftime.
The second half started, and Columbus almost found the breakthrough when Pedro Santos' shot from distance rattled the crossbar. Substitute, Adrien Pérez, had United’s first look at goal in the second half when his low-driven shot was saved by Room. Then, in the 52nd minute, Ola Kamara was played through on goal by Arriola but his effort narrowly missed. Hamid came up big in the 55th minute when Columbus Crew SC played a through ball to Berry for a goal-scoring opportunity, but Hamid reacted quickly to stop it.
Columbus found the go-ahead goal in the 66th minute when a long ball beat D.C. United’s backline and left Santos one-on-one with Hamid to give them the 2-1 lead.
Ten minutes after their second goal, Columbus extended their lead to 3-1 with a strike from Zelarayán at the top of the box. D.C. United pressed higher in the final 15 minutes, but despite their late efforts, they were unable to claw their way back into the game.
D.C. United will travel to BMO Field to face off against Toronto FC on Saturday, November 7, with kickoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET. Tune into NBCSWA+, TeleXitos, and www.dcunited.com to watch the match.
