By Abram Heredia
On the 20th anniversary of one of this nation’s greatest tragedies, the two afflicted teams face off at Red Bull Arena. Last time the two faced off, D.C. United triumphed with a 1-0 win which saw star striker, Ola Kamara scoring what would be the decider in the 27th minute.
At this point in the season, it’s absolutely vital for the “black-and-red” to maintain focus to keep hold of their playoff spot which they’ve narrowly clung onto off the back of three losses in the last four games, putting them in 7th place in the eastern conference. Dropping points at this stage could easily see them swallowed up by the hungry teams who lurk just below said play-off spot, desperate to take their place. Luckily, they are coming off of a convincing 3-1 win over Philadelphia Union, providing them with some much-needed momentum ahead of their NY Red Bulls match on September 11th.
Currently D.C. United finds themselves facing a team five spots below them, who they’ve already shown they can defeat. Even though they were only able to manage 39% and only had a 63% pass accuracy in said match, they were able to double the shots on target, as well as overall shots against a struggling Red Bulls side. One might look at these stats and think United has nothing to worry about, however, this notion would be disproven when it is taken into account that the United boasts the 3rd worst defense, in terms of goals conceded, in the western conference. Meaning although the odds are in their favor, things could easily take a turn for the worse against this Red Bull side who not only have the home game advantage but undoubtedly are desperate to claw their way back up the ladder toward that highly coveted playoff spot. Nevertheless, United is expected to come up with a win here as they’ve hopefully gathered some inspiration and ambition in their last game.