By IVES GALARCEP
D.C. United went into Sunday’s showdown vs. the Philadelphia Union in desperate need of some contributions from an attack that had been anemic all season. The team had been lacking chances, and failing to produce goals, which was continuing to put the D.C. defense in tough spots on their way to a poor start to the season.
Well, the chances did come on Sunday, as did some goals, but this time around it was the D.C. United defense and not the offense that had Ben Olsen scratching his head. Three Union goals in the first 26 minutes, led by a pair of Jack McInerney strikes, helped the Union post a 3-2 victory over D.C. United at RFK Stadium.
Philadelphia capitalized on some terrible defending from Dejan Jakovic in the early minutes of the match to jump out to an early 2-0 lead. A Jakovic turnover up the field led to a quick Union counter as McInerney slipped into the space vacated by Jakovic and raced onto a Conor Casey pass before beating Hamid.
Just four minutes later, it was Casey who did the damage, collecting a Danny Cruz pass and taking advantage of space left to him by an out-of-position Jakovic to slot home a goal of his own.
D.C. United pulled one back six minutes later courtesy of a Perry Kitchen finish set up by Dwayne DeRosario, but McInerney responded in the 26th minute when he headed home a Sheanon Williams long throw re-directed into his path by Amobi Okugo to make the score 3-1.
D.C. United eventually settled down, and continued to create chances, but they wasted several quality looks at goal and failed to draw closer before halftime. A second goal came just two minutes into the second half, when Lionard Pajoy headed home his second goal of the season.
That was as close as D.C. came though as they suffered their third consecutive home defeat while the Union pushed their unbeaten streak to three matches as they climbed to fifth place in the East.
Here are the match highlights: