Despite creating better chances and a dominant showing from goalkeeper Bill Hamid (5 saves), D.C. United shared the points in a scoreless draw against Sporting Kansas City Saturday night in the final home opener at RFK Stadium.
On a frosty, windy night in the nation’s capital, United nearly broke the game open with an early goal in the 15th minute. After midfielder Julian Büscher received the ball at the top of the eighteen yard box from Parick Nyarko, the German dribbled his way through the Sporting defense towards goal, only to be brought down by Tim Melia at the edge of the six-yard box. Midfielder Marcelo Sarvas’s subsequent penalty was parried away by a diving Melia, but it was a strong signal of attacking intent early on from United.
The left hand side of both teams’ offenses played a critical role throughout the game. Forays down the wing from Nyarko and Sporting’s new Designated Player Gerso Fernandes caused havoc all night as both sets of goalkeeper’s were kept on their toes.
Bill Hamid, in particular, stood out in the game’s opening period, keeping the match tied for United with a breathtaking save. United's first Homegrown Player dove to his right to stop a bending Benny Feilhaber free kick and was able to push the ball over the bar with a strong right hand.
United almost won the night in the 61st minute with three straight chances in a frantic 20 seconds of play. After Lloyd Sam's corner was saved from going into the net directly with a goal line clearance by a Sporting defender, Nick DeLeon’s effort off the rebound was cleared off the line by the head of another sprawling defender, and a headed effort from Patrick Mullins shortly after was pushed out of bounds by Melia to end the chaos.
With key midfielder Luciano Acosta out with a day-to-day ankle injury he has been nursing since the end of preseason, United will be pleased with the quality of the scoring chances they were able to create, as well as the resiliency they showed on defense with a new-look backline of Taylor Kemp, Steve Birnbaum, Sean Franklin, and DeLeon.
“As a defensive exercise it was impressive; the guys looked after each other,” head coach Ben Olsen said during the postgame news conference. “When I think back on the game, we had just as many good chances as they did and I think they’re one of the better teams in the league. They’re going to be good this year and I give [the guys] a lot of credit.”
United will hope to build off this performance and grab their first win in New York when they travel to Yankee Stadium on March 12 to play Eastern Conference foe New York City FC.
