DC United 2, New England Revolution 0 | 2018 MLS Match Recap

Dave Zeitlin

D.C. United are really loving that new stadium.

On Sunday night at Audi Field, D.C. won their third home game in eight days, knocking off the New England Revolution in a key Eastern Conference battle for playoff positioning.

Luciano Acosta, a week removed from a hat trick, scored the game’s first goal, hammering home a cross from Paul Arriola, who got free after a pretty move near the endline in the 13th minute.

D.C. United had several more scoring chances in the first half before surviving an early second-half blitz from the slumping Revolution, who saw their comeback bid stalled when Scott Caldwell was sent off in the 73rd minute with his second yellow card.

Zoltan Stieber, who replaced Arriola in the second half, sealed the win with a breakaway goal in the 89th minute.

Goals

13' — DC — Luciano Acosta WATCH
89' — DC — Zoltan Stieber WATCH

Three Things

THE BIG PICTURE: D.C. United, now unbeaten in five, continue to shake up the playoff picture in the East, moving within two points of the the seventh-place Revolution with two games in hand. The Revs, once firmly above the playoff line, are now winless in their last seven (with five losses in that stretch) as their own postseason hopes keep fading.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH
: Acosta’s early goal set the tone for the game as D.C. United controlled play in the first half and never let the lead slip away to earn their first shutout since April 14 (and the 50th of goalkeeper
Bill Hamid
's career).
#DCvNE

Just like that. What a ball from @PaulArriola, what a strike from @LuchoAcosta94. 🙌🙌🙌#DCU | #DCvNE 1-0 pic.twitter.com/YGnW8kRocd
— dcunited (@dcunited) August 20, 2018

MAN OF THE MATCH: Arriola didn’t look to be too happy coming out of the game but he firmly made his mark when he was on the field, logging his eighth assist of the season, getting a couple of good scoring looks and keying a suddenly dominant D.C. front four.