Union’s offense goes silent in a rare 3-1 loss to D.C. United

The Union’s 10-game unbeaten run in Major League Soccer play against D.C. United came to an end Saturday night in Washington.

Jim Curtin’s side managed just two shots on goal over 90 minutes in the 3-1 loss to one of the other playoff contenders in the Eastern Conference.

The Union struck first out of the blue in the 22nd minute, when Kacper Przybylko deflected a ball off D.C. defender Steven Birnbaum into the back of the net.

The attacking move that produced the opening goal was the first significant movement around the D.C. goal from the Union.

After that, the home side went back to its dominant role. The hard work from the Black-and-Red was finally rewarded in the 36th minute.

Ola Kamara deposited a penalty kick into the left side of the net past Andre Blake, who dove incorrectly to the right.

Blake kept the Union in the game for most of the first half with two spectacular saves. The first came in the 15th minute, as he dove to his left to turn away an attempt from Julian Gressel. His second denial in the 28th minute was as fantastic as the first. He used his right hand to palm away a shot from Yordy Reyna.

Blake was once again at his best in the 49th minute, when he turned away a shot at close range, but his rebound fell to Reyna.

Reyna used an acrobatic finish from a few yards out to give D.C. a deserved 2-1 advantage.

The Union attempted to chase a result for the rest of the second half by bringing on Quinn Sullivan and Paxten Aaronson in favor of Daniel Gazdag and Jamiro Monteiro.

Unfortunately, the homegrown players were unable to provide the spark they showed in previous matches.

Sullivan and Aaronson were left with the attacking responsibility after Gazdag and Monteiro failed to combine well in advanced attacking roles underneath starting forward Przybylko.

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Gazdag, a Hungarian international who joined the Union this summer, has gone five straight games without a shot on goal. He has two shot attempts in that entire span.

Roman Abila finished off the D.C. victory with a stoppage-time goal after he took advantage of lackluster defending and used some nice skill to turn in the box and beat Blake.

Gazdag and six other players will be absent for the Union’s next match on Friday night against the New England Revolution.

Blake, Powell, and Cory Burke (Jamaica), Gazdag (Hungary), Monteiro (Cape Verde), Jose Martinez (Venezuela), and Olivier Mbaizo (Cameroon) will be away on international duty as World Cup qualifying continues across the globe.

The Union will call on most of their younger players to start in the match that was rescheduled because of the club’s participation in the Concacaf Champions League.

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