D.C. United’s Paul Arriola scored the lone goal in Saturday night’s 1-0 win against the Tampa Bay Rowdies in Al Lang Stadium in the 2019 Suncoast Invitational.
The Black-and-Red offense got off to an early start in St. Petersburg, Fla., as Luciano Acosta played a well-weighted ball into the path of Paul Arriola who continued his run and won a corner in the 10th minute.
Just a few minutes later, Acosta showed his offensive ability by playing a skillful rabona cross into the box to keep the Rowdies on the backfoot.
In the 25th minute, Hamid was called into action when Tampa Bay fired a low shot on frame and Hamid safely collected the shot to keep the score at 0-0.
D.C. United broke the deadlock in the 34th minute of the match. Acosta danced his way down the touchline and played a driven pass into the path of Arriola who expertly slotted the ball past the keeper for the 1-0 lead.
Wayne Rooney scores a diving header in the 40th minute of the contest. However, the goal was reviewed by VAR and ruled offside. United went into the halftime with a 1-0 lead.
Akeem Ward replaced Acosta at halftime and the 2019 SuperDraft pick made an immediate impact for United. In the 54th minute, Ward played a through ball to Arriola, who got to the byline and has his cross blocked.
United made a flurry of substitutes late in the match. Ulises Segura, Earl Edwards Jr., Jalen Robison, Donovan Pines, Loudoun United FC signing Shinya Kadono and a handful of academy players come into the game.
After the final whistle blew the game ended at 1-0 in favor of D.C. United. The win marks a successful start to the Suncoast invitational tournament for the Black-and-Red. The next match up for the Black-and-Red takes place on Wednesday, Feb. 20 against the Philadelphia Union at the Joe D. Sports Complex.
