After taking the lead via a Jared Watts own goal, D.C. United were able to steal three points from the Colorado Rapids.

Thanks to the woodwork a few times and some brilliant saves from Bill Hamid, the visitors were able to snap their eight match winless streak.

Monumental error gives D.C. the lead

The first 10 minutes saw little activity, but the game quickly grew into life.

A few minutes later Marcelo Sarvas intercepted a ball in the midfield and played it to Luciano Acosta, who calmly laid it off to the new man Paul Arriola. Arriola fired a low shot, but he was denied by United States National Team legend Tim Howard.

This began a dominating period for the Black and Red as Acosta tried to catch Tim Howard off guard with an ambitious curling effort from outside the box, but Howard was able to swat it away. United would earn themselves a few corners afterward, but none of them found the back of the net.

Russell Canouse made himself known this match. After taking the ball away from the Rapids attack, he laid it off to Acosta; who was unfortunately chopped down by Jared Watts.

About halfway into the first half, Kevin Doyle played a ball across the box that found Shkelzen Gashi, who couldn’t get a lot behind it but it then found Dominique Badji. The Senegalese player had his back to goal in the six-yard box, but Sean Franklin brilliantly poked it away from danger.

We saw the first goal 28 minutes into the game. Jared Watts looked to play a ball back to his goalkeeper Howard, but it was slightly off of Howard’s position and it skipped into his own net. United broke through thanks to an own goal and found themselves ahead.

In the 32nd minute, Gashi tried ripping a shot from distance, but it went wide of Hamid’s goal.

Bismarck Adjei-Boateng found himself in some space and tried a looping shot from distance, but his impressive shot was met with an impressive save from Bill Hamid.

The Black and Red couldn’t extend their lead, nor could the Rapids tie the game up before the referee Alex Chilowicz blew for halftime. D.C. United lead 1-0.

Rapid fire attacks see no end result

Badji found himself the cause of the first set of action in the second half as his cross was deflected by United’s Sean Franklin. Kevin Doyle rose high and met the deflection with his head, but his header slammed the crossbar. The rebound found Michael Azira, who let go an effort that would test Bill Hamid. Hamid did well to parry it into the air, as he was able to gather it once the ball came back down.

Soon after, Boateng picked his teammate Gashi from distance. Gashi controlled the ball and got a shot away, but his shot was saved by Hamid and went out for a corner. Doyle again tried a heading attempt, but it went agonizingly wide.

D.C. needed an answer to the Rapids domination, and they found it through another Colorado mistake. Axel Sjoberg slipped and Franklin took the ball away and began the United attack. Franklin played a ball across the box that ended up finding Paul Arriola, who tried dribbling around the Rapids defense. Arriola tried crossing it, but it was met with a less than stellar header from Lloyd Sam.

Bill Hamid came to the rescue once again when Badji slipped through on goal, but his effort was pushed wide by the United keeper.

The ensuing counter-attack saw Paul Arriola spearhead a three on two opportunity, but his ball to Lucho Acosta was wasted when he neglected to shoot and instead passed it. It ended up being Marcelo who took the shot, but it was a rather poor effort.

With 10 minutes remaining in the game, a Colorado corner fell to Dominique Badji but his shot was blocked off the line by Russell Canouse.

Minutes later, Alan Gordon’s header appeared to have struck the arm of D.C. defender Chris Korb, but the ref deemed it unintentional.

Midway through the second half Steve Birnbaum went down with a head injury after he headed away a cross. He decided to continue, but later went down on one knee and signaled he needed assistance. Birnbaum was subbed off and went through concussion protocol.

The Rapids searched for a late equalizer as Kevin Doyle played an on the ground cross to Dominique Badji who got his foot on the end of it but the ball, but his shot slammed the post. Joshua Gatt got the rebound but his shot didn’t trouble Hamid.

Into stoppage time the Rapids did find their equalizer after the ball pinballed its way past Hamid. Fortunately for United, the linesman’s flag was up and the goal was waved off. Immediately after Alan Gordon was gifted a chance to level things, but he sent it wide.

The ref blew for full time and D.C. United snapped its eight game winless streak.

What’s next?

Colorado, now 6-13-4, will travel to face the Portland Timbers this Wednesday. They are now in the midst of a six game winless streak.

D.C. United will head back home to take on Atlanta United this Wednesday, a team they have beaten twice so far this year. Their record improves to 6-15-4 and at the moment are bumped out of the last place spot in the entire MLS.

Takeaways

The Rapids looked rejuvenated under their new boss Steve Cooke and definitely had their fair share of chances. With work on finishing, they should be fine for the future.

The Black and Red have learned one major thing this game: Russell Canouse was a brilliant signing. He made many interceptions and seemed to be everywhere, which is exactly what United need. Acosta also needs to be more ready to pull the trigger on chances.