D.C. United fell to the Philadelphia Union 2-1 on Wednesday night. The game started with a high tempo for both sides. Bill Hamid and the D.C. United defense were forced to make some big stops in the first fifteen minutes, but it was the Black-and-Red who scored the first goal of the night in the 23rd minute. Luciano Acosta sent a beautiful ball past the defense and Wayne Rooney collected it and sent the ball into the back of the net with a well-placed chip.
As the match went on, the Philadelphia Union created more chances, but D.C. United’s backline held off the challenge. A particularly impressive save came in the 35th minute, where Steve Birnbaum blocked two attempted shots by the Union before Hamid wrapped himself around the ball. Hamid finished the first half with an impressive save off a shot from C.J. Sapong.
D.C. United started the second half with a wave of substitutions. Chris Seitz, Donovan Pines, Frédéric Brillant, Chris McCann, Chris Durkin, and Zoltán Stieber came in for Bill Hamid, Jalen Robinson, Steven Birnbaum, Joseph Mora, Junior Moreno, and Ulises Segura.
The second half was largely dominated by the Philadelphia offense. Marco Fabian scored for the Union in the 60th minute and Cory Burke caught Seitz out of the net and put another one away. Throughout the second half, unnamed trialists came on as substitutes for Rooney, Akeem Ward, Acosta, and Russell Canouse.
There were a few chances created by the Black-and-Red in the second half, including a promising shot from Stieber in the 84th minute, but ultimately D.C. United were unable to equalize.
Each side earned one yellow card in the second half. Cory Burke was carded after a high boot on Jalen Robinson and Canouse was carded for a challenge on Fabian. Neither team suffered any injuries during the game.
D.C. United will play their next match in the 2019 Suncoast Invitational on Saturday, February 23rd against the Montreal Impact. This will be their final match of the preseason before their season opener at Audi Field against Atlanta United on March 3.
To reserve your seats for the 2019 Audi Field Home Opener against the reigning MLS Champions, Atlanta United on March 3, click here!
