WASHINGTON – It required an offense in sync for D.C. United to snap their three-game losing streak in all competitions on Wednesday night.
Charlie Davies, Josh Wolff and Andy Najar stepped up against Seattle at RFK Stadium, combining on two occasions to buoy the team to a 2-1 win.
Davies set up Wolff for United’s opener in the first half, and the 34-year-old returned the favor in the second half. Each goal was similar – one forward running into space, sending a perfect, low cross to the far post that required a simple tap-in.
“It was great that Josh gave Charlie one, and then Charlie gave Josh one, right on the spot,” head coach Ben Olsen said after Wednesday’s win. “They both did a great job.”
While DC’s two forwards engineered the final ball, it was Andy Najar, making his first start since March 26, who started each move. In the first half, Najar passed a low through ball that found Davies in space. The forward did the rest, beating Sounders defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, and squaring it for Wolff to finish past Kasey Keller.
And on the second goal, the 2010 Rookie of the Year danced past Seattle’s Erik Friberg, before sending Wolff into space with a pass with the outside of his right foot. Like Davies in the first half, Wolff sent in a perfect cross that Davies slammed home.
WATCH: Davies bags league-leading sixth goal
Olsen was very pleased with the work of his forward tandem, but he didn’t overlook the contribution of Najar.
“It was really nice to see him back again,” the second-year coach said. “He is one of my favorite guys that I’ve had around in my professional career. His energy looks better, his spirit looks better and I was very excited for him to be back.”
Offensively, United continue to tweak things going forward, but appear to have settled on a starting forward combination in Davies and Wolff. Davies’ goal was his league-leading sixth of the season, already surpassing the club’s top mark of last year, shared by Najar and the since-departed Danny Allsopp.
By tallying his second goal of the season Wednesday night, Wolff equaled his goal-scoring production from last season in 28 games with Kansas City. Making just their third-ever start together, Davies and Wolff are still building chemistry together, and this was certainly a step in the positive direction.
“You hope that chemistry [continues to grow],” Wolff told reporters after the game. “With results like tonight, you can see Charlie put in a real shift up front. We talked about it at training, it’s about being difficult, being physical and holding balls up.”
