In only their 5th game of the season, DC United and New York City FC faced off for the second time. In mid-March NYC had taken the honors with a 4-0 win in the Bronx, but with United coming off their first win of the season against the Philadelphia Union, it looked like this could be a closer game, and it was.
City started the game in the ascendancy...
...beating United to the ball on the ground and in the air...
...but it wasn’t long before United started attacking the City goal from open play...
...and set pieces.
The midfield battles were close fought...
...with the occasional player, such as City’s Rodney Wallace, breaking through...
...and shooting on goal...
...sometimes quite spectacularly.
United were equal to the task and repelled every ball in.
David Villa showed off his skills, leaping through the air to lead an attack...
...which the United defense, once again, held off.
At the other end Ian Harkes showed that City weren’t the only ones who could play with the ball...
...riding a Wallace tackle.
Both teams continued to push forward...
...and the tackles continued to fly in...
...as did the shots...
...at both ends.
Luciano Acosta continually showed that being only 5’3” didn’t mean that he couldn’t out leap his much taller opposition.
The attacks continued...
...at both ends, with one attack leaving City’s Sean Johnson yelling at his teammates.
Villa continued to press forward, looking for the opening
...but none was to be found, as the reinstated Bobby Boswell stuck to his side.
So the first half ended 0-0, but the promise of a breakthrough was palpable. The second half began with United on the attack...
In the 53rd minute, a defensive slip up was punished by Lloyd Sam, who slid the ball under Johnson to take the lead for United.
United kept up the pressure, looking to double their lead..
...which they did in the 73rd minute when Acosta took the ball from in his own half...
...dribbling through a sea of blue shirts...
...leaving Andrea Pirlo in his wake...
...before passing the ball to Sam, whose shot was parried by Johnson back into the path of Acosta, who made no mistake in scoring the second.
...leaving Pirlo to ponder how his team were going to get back into the game (although it wasn’t to be his problem to solve, as he was taken off a minute later).
United then went into a more defensive position, as City unleashed wave after wave of attacks, which Bill Hamid turned away (in one instance 3 shots in the space of a few seconds).
In the 84th minute Thomas McNamara crossed the ball in from the wing straight to the feet of Villa, who made no mistake in hitting the back of the net.
A few minutes later substitute Miguel Camargo had a chance to score the equalizer, but it wasn’t to be.
United‘s substitute Sebastien Le Toux tried to keep the ball in the City end...
...but with all of the substitutes used, Acosta started to pull up injured...
...although it didn’t stop him pressing for the ball in spurts, then resting doubled over, or clutching his leg.
But City were unable to take advantage, and the game ended with United winning 2-1, and pulling level with City in the standings on 7 points from 5 games.