Outnumbered and down its defensive anchor, D.C. United asserted itself well following Steven Birnbaum’s first-half red card against Real Salt Lake on Saturday night at Audi Field. As the home team pushed players forward, moved the ball crisply and eyed the opposing goal, it didn’t seem dismayed by its disadvantage.
Then came one swing of Pablo Ruiz’s left foot.
Collecting the ball in his own half in the 41st minute, the Salt Lake midfielder looked up and detected United goalkeeper Tyler Miller off his line. Dreaming up an audacious effort, Ruiz launched a shot from past midfield and watched as it soared over the lunging Miller for a goal of the year candidate — and the opening tally of Salt Lake’s 2-1 win.
“It’s a great strike,” United Coach Wayne Rooney said. “Sometimes you have to appreciate good goals, and it’s an incredible strike by the lad. So there’s nothing really you can do on that.”
United recovered to put up a frenetic fight in the second half, with Chris Durkin quickly halving the deficit in the 53rd minute after Danny Musovski had doubled the visiting side’s lead in the 51st. But D.C. ultimately dropped its second in a row and fell to 6-8-5 entering next Saturday’s visit from first-place FC Cincinnati. Salt Lake, which had won just two of its past nine league matches, improved to 6-7-5.
Advertisement
Rooney has coached Miller all season to stray from his net, a risky but typically effective tactic that allows the goalkeeper to charge out and shut down the opposing attack. A week after Miller was burned while failing to intercept a pass on the opening goal of a 3-1 loss at Atlanta, the strategy again backfired on Ruiz’s strike.
“It was just a good hit,” Miller said. “This is what they’ve asked me to play, and I’ve embraced it all season, and now I’ve gotten [beaten over the top] once the entire season in 19 games. These are obviously the risks, but there’s been a lot of opportunities that I’ve been able to clear up for the team.”
The tally came 15 minutes after Birnbaum was tossed. Musovski chased down a promising through ball, Birnbaum hauled the striker to the turf, and referee Malik Badawi showed the United captain a red card for denying an obvious scoring opportunity. Although Miller seemed close enough to the play to have cut off the pass — creating an argument for the red card to be rescinded — the video assistant referee did not recommend a review.
Advertisement
“I think that the way the ref called it, I mean, it is fair,” Miller said. “But I do believe that I would have gotten the ball before the attacker to negate any opportunity to score.”
Musovski wasn’t done causing problems for United. Shortly after halftime, he beat Brendan Hines-Ike to the near post and stabbed home Andrés Gómez’s low cross to put Salt Lake up by two.
United responded two minutes later, when Durkin rifled Ruan’s setup past Salt Lake goalkeeper Zac MacMath. D.C. defender Derrick Williams’s goal-line clearance in the 58th minute further livened the home crowd, and Lewis O’Brien nearly sent Audi Field into hysteria when his long-range stoppage-time shot buzzed just wide.
“It’s always difficult going down [to] 10 men,” Durkin said. “But we worked our butts off to the last whistle.”
Advertisement
Here’s what else to know about United’s loss:
Rooney vents
Rooney expressed his frustration with Badawi and the league’s decision to appoint the official — who typically oversees matches in the second-tier USL Championship — on a weekend in which MLS only scheduled six matches because of conflicts with national team games.
Although Rooney agreed with Birnbaum’s red card, calling it a “silly decision by Steve,” he objected to the decision not to give United a penalty kick when Salt Lake’s Brayan Vera took down D.C. substitute Kristian Fletcher in the 86th minute.
“The referee has made a mistake by not giving it, and VAR have made a mistake by not telling him to check it,” Rooney said. “I don’t understand ... why we got a USL referee. The guy has refereed four games in MLS before. I don’t get it. Where’s the MLS referees? Because that’s not good enough. If this league wants to grow, it wants to improve — and you can ban me if you want or fine me. Do whatever you want because I’m sick of it.”
Dájome, Hines-Ike start
Rooney gave forward Cristian Dájome and Hines-Ike their first starts of the season as two of five changes from the lineup that fell at Atlanta United last weekend. They took the positions normally filled by Taxi Fountas, who was summoned to play for Greece in European Championship qualifying, and Victor Pálsson, a call-up to Iceland.
Advertisement
Dájome joined United in an April trade from the Vancouver Whitecaps, and Hines-Ike had logged just one minute in MLS play since he underwent foot surgery in August.
Midfielder Russell Canouse returned to the lineup for the first time since he suffered a head injury in a loss at Toronto on May 27. He missed several minutes in the first half with a gash on his face, then returned after receiving sideline treatment before coming off as Rooney changed United’s formation at halftime.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMCxu9GtqmhqYGeAcHyVaGhwZ5SYera6yK2cnWWimq6tedKao61lnJa4pnnPmpmlp12nwqrGjg%3D%3D