D.C. United survives a thriller against Inter Miami

D.C. United and Inter Miami faced off on Saturday night in a battle between the reigning Supporters’ Shield champions (and owners of the best regular season record in MLS history) and a D.C. team with the worst attack and second-worst defense in MLS.

Having lost each of their last two meetings against the Herons – including two of their last three in the nation’s capital – all signs pointed to the hosts losing to Miami.

After all, D.C. had lost nine of its last 11 matches, whereas the visitors had won two in a row. Instead, D.C. pulled off one of the most impressive results of what has otherwise been another dreary campaign, giving their fanbase much-needed hope under their new manager.

This was a unique match for several reasons. For the first time in my two decades of attending United matches, I was greeted by a legion of military tanks and soldiers upon my arrival. For the first time, I saw a stadium where the majority of the shirts were attached to the opposing team. Whereas journalists were warned against wearing Inter Miami, Argentina, Barcelona or other sports apparel, it’s evident that the fans did not receive the memo, judging by the throngs of pink shirts, Blaugrana kits, Albiceleste jerseys, and even the occasional Paris Saint-Germain shirt.

But whilst many of those supporters shelled out hundreds of dollars with the sole purpose of seeing their footballing idol in person, their hopes were dashed in the lead-up to the match with Lionel Messi as well as Jordi Alba both staying put in South Florida.

It was a heavily rotated Miami side following their midweek win against Tigres in the Leagues Cup, with their other veteran leaders in Rodrigo de Paul, Luis Suárez and Sergio Busquets starting the match on the bench. Miami, who made it all the way to the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals as well as the FIFA Club World Cup Round of 16, were in need of a breather, and they got one in D.C.

In fact, with the exception of Fafà Picault (34), no other Miami starter was over the age of 26, with Miami manager Javier Mascherano taking measures to prepare for their upcoming Leagues Cup semifinal vs. Orlando. D.C., meanwhile, were missing the reigning MLS Golden Boot winner Christian Benteke due to suspension, who had scored eight of their 23 goals prior to the match.

They were also without Caden Clark who became the club’s sole summer signing after joining from Montréal on Thursday before suffering a concussion in training with his new club. Another noticeable absentee for D.C. was the passion of the supporters’ groups.

There was no ear-shattering cacophony of drumming and chanting from fan groups like Screaming Eagles or La Barra Brava, with many fans choosing to make a silent protest against their club (there was, however, a powerful “Free DC” chant in response to President Donald Trump’s militarized takeover of policing in the District of Columbia.

And yet, despite these adverse circumstances, D.C. managed to impose themselves on proceedings from the get-go and grab the first sight on goal as David Schnegg fired in a cross for Aaron Herrera, who headed wide.

They broke the deadlock in the 15th minute as Matti Peltola turned a would-be clearance into a world-class delivery for Jackson Hopkins, who cushioned it onto his right boot before smashing it home on the half-volley.

The hosts nearly doubled their lead within the half-hour after working it towards an unmarked Hosei Kijima on the edge of the box, with the Japanese winger forcing a strong palm from Rocco Ríos Novo. Somehow, someway, Miami were on the backburner, whilst D.C. were in cruise control.

“Every team in this league is a good team,” stated Miami defender Ryan Sailor to FourFourTwo. “Every team is capable of putting together a performance to get wins. I know D.C. has had a rougher year than most, but you can see they still have quality and good patches and things like that.”

Miami needed a response, and they got one after the interval, coming out of the gates raring to go and pouring on the pressure on the Black and Red. They increased their stranglehold on proceedings thanks to the entrances of De Paul, Busquets, and Suárez.

However, out of all the substitutes, it wasn’t either of the World Cup winners or the Copa América winner who made the ultimate difference, but a 22-year-old Argentine striker who hadn’t scored in any of his seven appearances since joining on loan from Racing Club in March.

Baltasar Rodríguez nearly opened the scoring within seconds of coming on after latching onto a corner kick and taking aim from outside the box, only for his shot to swerve wide. However, he calculated his measurements to perfection for the equalizer and telegraphed his shot into the top-right corner. It was the kind of shot that, to stop it, D.C. goalkeeper Luis Berraza would have needed a jetpack.

“There are swings of momentum in every game,” added Sailor to FourFourTwo. “There’s going to be periods in the game where one team’s doing better than the other, and halftime was a good opportunity for us to reassess where we were at. We made a couple of changes, we had some fresh legs that made a difference, so I think [our improved second-half display] was a combination of things.”

D.C. weathered the attacking storm and continued to diligently defend whilst also hitting Miami in transition, with substitute Jacob Murrell looking to have restored their lead, only for his effort to be ruled out due to offside. Whilst it wasn’t enough to secure their first victory since May 31, the Black and Red nevertheless managed to hold one of the best sides in North America to a draw.

They did so in large part thanks to Hopkins, who was moved from central midfield to center forward in the absence of Benteke, and who wore the captain’s armband for D.C. across his 74 minutes on the pitch. Having failed to score in his first 55 MLS matches, Hopkins has now scored a goal apiece in each of his last two matches.

“I thought [our second-half performance] was pretty good,” stated Hopkins to FourFourTwo. “[Miami] had an amazing goal from outside the box off the corner, which is something that we can’t really do much about, but we didn’t really give up any real chances. We scored a goal that we don’t think was offsides, we also hit the post, so we had a good chance. We were pushing the whole game, and I think we had the better chances throughout the game. Against one of the best teams in the league, it’s a positive for sure.”

Miami sit fifth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Orlando City, four behind Nashville, six behind Cincinnati, and eight behind Philadephia (boasting three games in hand on all of those teams). Whereas Miami still controls its own destiny with regards to finishing with the best regular record in MLS and winning a second-straight Supporters’ Shield, D.C. have been eliminated from postseason contention for the sixth straight season.

D.C., who won four MLS Cups in their first decade as a club, will continue to wait for their first postseason victory since 2015, with the club currently sitting bottom of the Eastern Conference and second only to LA Galaxy in the overall standings. However, they’ve nevertheless found some reason for optimism under René Weiler. After putting an end to a six-match losing streak in his first match in charge, a 1-1 draw to Montréal, the Swiss coach has overseen yet another 1-1 stalemate in his second match at the helm.

“I think it’s a fresh start,” admitted Berraza to FourFourTwo after the match. “It’s towards the end of the season, which is a little bit strange, but we’ve been able to work with [Weiler.] I see the work that he does… it’s been a really good two weeks of work. Only time will tell if he’s going to implement more stuff, but so far, it’s been good.”