The hosts were lucky to salvage a point at Audi Field.
If D.C. United is going to play postseason soccer for the first time since 2019, when Wayne Rooney was roaming the field and Ben Olsen was pacing the sideline, it needs to pick up three points when inferior opposition strolls into Audi Field.
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Atlanta United’s visit Saturday night presented such an opportunity. But as two of the lowest-scoring teams in MLS went head-to-head, they stayed true to form in a 0-0 draw that kept D.C. (6-7-11) on the outside looking in at a playoff berth with 10 matches remaining.
“It was at the end a good result, but we didn’t play a good game,” D.C. Coach René Weiler said. “Some key players, they didn’t perform how they have to perform in our squad.”
If anything, the single point in the standings was generous: Atlanta (6-14-5) controlled 62 percent of the possession, outshot D.C. 19-4 and held the home team without a bid on target. In the game’s final sequence, Atlanta substitute Luke Brennan struck the crossbar and saw his follow-up effort cleared off the line by D.C. defender Kye Rowles.
“A lot was happening to end the game,” goalkeeper Sean Johnson said. “We probably shouldn’t be in that spot.”
At the final whistle, D.C. sat 12th in the Eastern Conference — one point out of the ninth and final playoff bid. For all of its missed opportunities this season, the club remains in striking distance of the postseason ahead of Charlotte FC’s visit to Audi Field next Saturday night.
Weiler stuck with nine of the 11 starters from D.C.’s 2-1 win over the Columbus Crew, though the home side was without suspended playmaker João Peglow. Wednesday’s result snapped a five-game winless skid, but United still entered Saturday’s contest boasting just two victories in 12 matches dating back to mid-May.
The water-treading stretch recently led Weiler to declare that, while he’s been “mostly satisfied” with the team’s performances, there’s no denying that D.C. is “still struggling.”
Despite its place near the Eastern Conference basement, Atlanta didn’t represent a pushover. The visitors came in on a 3-2-1 run. Miguel Almirón, the sparkplug winger who helped Paraguay advance to the round of 16 at this summer’s World Cup, presented an imposing threat. So did Breel Embolo, the prolific Swiss striker who recently joined the club in a move from French side Rennes. (You may recognize the name: Embolo gained global notoriety for a hotly debated red card against Argentina in the World Cup quarterfinals.)
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“No game is easy in this league,” midfielder Andre Dozzell said. “We’ll take the positives from defending, but, of course, we’ve got to be better on the ball.”
D.C. came out on the front foot before an announced 14,189 at Audi Field. It threatened on Nathan Ordaz’s early curler, then appealed for a penalty when Louis Munteanu absorbed contact in the box. But it was all Atlanta the rest of the way.
The visitors nearly went ahead in the 10th minute, when the ball fell to Embolo with the goal gaping and Rowles deflected his shot wide. Later, Almirón rifled an audacious volley wide and narrowly missed again on a near-post shot. The first half ended with Alexey Miranchuk sending his one-timer over the bar after some crisp combination play.
When Atlanta picked up where it left off after halftime — D.C.’s Kimito Nono denied Cooper Sanchez a goal with last-gasp defending — Weiler had seen enough. In the 56th minute, he brought on Matti Peltola, Jared Stroud and Jackson Hopkins as reinforcements.
But Atlanta didn’t relent. Embolo forced Johnson into a slick kick save. Almirón shanked a golden opportunity. Embolo rang the post with a bicycle kick, though he was flagged for offside.
All the while, D.C. scraped together just a couple of half-chances: Dozzell’s long-range bid that fizzed over the bar and Tai Baribo’s header that missed the mark.
“We gave it all we had to keep it out of the net,” captain Lucas Bartlett said. “We’ve got to find ways to possess the ball, try to finish games and create more chances for ourselves.”
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