D.C. United earned its first three points of the season with an impressive come-from-behind win against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, March 8 at Audi Field. On a chilly night in the nation’s capital, the Black-and-Red overturned a 1-0 deficit on the back of goals from Christian Benteke and Hosei Kijima.
Similar to in the previous two matches, D.C. United started the game on the front foot. Defender David Schnegg showcased his ability going forward down the left flank in the 5th minute and after beating two defenders he fired in a cross with Gabriel Pirani’s first-time effort being saved by Sporting KC goalkeeper John Pulskamp.
In the 24th minute, the Black-and-Red created another dangerous opportunity. Gabriel Pirani and Christian Benteke combined with some nifty one-touch passing to put Jared Stroud through on the right side. His cross found Christian Benteke who tried an audacious bicycle kick, but his effort was off target. Benteke had another chance in the 42nd minute when his towering header went agonizingly wide of the post.
The Black-and-Red had the lion’s share of the opportunities in the first half but were unable to convert and went into halftime tied 0-0 with Kansas.
D.C. United were the sharper team coming out of halftime and created a chance immediately in the 50th minute. Pirani left a lovely, cushioned pass for Jared Stroud who fired a cross along the ground across the six-yard box that narrowly missed the outstretched Benteke at the back post with Schnegg then firing his effort out for a goal kick.
In the 53rd minute, Sporting Kansas City grabbed the go-ahead goal against the run of play. SKC combined on a few clever passes before a cross found the feet of Erik Thommy who rifled in the opening goal of the match.
Benteke almost immediately found D.C. United’s response in the 58th minute when he got on the end of yet another cross, this time from João Peglow, who would earn the Heineken Star of the Match award for his impressive performance on his MLS debut. Benteke’s close-range effort was saved once again by Pulskamp. A minute later, Peglow drove into the box on the dribble and was taken down by a Kansas City defender with the referee pointing to the penalty spot. Despite his miss last week from 12-yards, Benteke confidently lined up for the penalty and coolly slotted it into the right corner.
Following the equalizer, D.C. United poured on the pressure in pursuit of the go-ahead goal and looked like the more likely team to score. SKC came close in the 66th minute when Shapi Suleymanov’s long range shot came careening of the outside of the post.
The Black-and-Red were rewarded for their dominance in the 68th minute when midfielder Hosei Kijima timed his run to perfection and met a João Peglow cross to flick his header into the far corner to give United the 2-1 lead.
Kijima had a rare shoutout for LinkedIn when discussing his goal in the post-match media availability.
“I mentioned this earlier with Apple, but I posted a video on LinkedIn about this. I can't remember which league it was, but it explained that running in behind has to happen when the ball is played in a negative direction, and then the defensive line steps up. It's really difficult to track, and I've done it many times throughout my career—maybe about 50 times—and I think three of those have resulted in goals. So, yeah, I’m definitely looking to do it more often.”
D.C. United staved off the late pressure from Sporting Kansas City to earn the 2-1 win in front of the home fans on Saturday night. The Black-and-Red now switch its attention to CF Montréal on Saturday, March 15 with a return to Audi Field for back-to-back league games. To purchase tickets to the match, go to dcunited.com/tickets.
Lineups:
D.C. United: Joon-Hong Kim, Lucas Bartlett, Kye Rowles, Aaron Herrera, David Schnegg, Boris Enow (Matti Peltola 70'), João Peglow (Brandon Servania 81'), Gabriel Pirani (Lukas MacNaughton 81'), Jared Stroud (Jacob Murrell 70'), Hosei Kijima, Christian Benteke (Dominique Badji 81')
Unused Substitutes: Luis Barraza, Garrison Tubbs, Derek Dodson, Fidel Barajas, Rida Zouhir
Head Coach: Troy Lesesne
Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp, Daniel Rosero (Jansen Miller 46'), Jake Davis, Logan Ndenbe, Joaquín Fernandez, Nemanja Radoja, Manu García, Zorhan Bassong, Erik Thommy (Daniel Salloi 88'), Shapi Suleymanov (William Agada 77'), and Dejan Joveljic.
Unused Substitutes: Robert Voloder, Memo Rodriguez, Mason Toye, Jacob Bartlett, Ryan Schewe
Head Coach: Peter Vermes
