It was the play that turned the game.
Just 10 minutes into the second half, Inter Miami went from taking a 2-0 lead to seeing their second goal called back and having center back Roman Torres sent off for denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
"I think it's the right call," D.C. United head coach Ben Olsen said after the match, which D.C. came from behind to win 2-1. "Julian [Gressel] makes a great play to put himself in that position and I thought it was a great response after the red card. A quick two [goals]. And we held on for the rest of the match."
Just minutes after the Torres red card, D.C. scored two goals in a three-minute span to erase Miami's advantage and take a lead they would not give up despite late pressure from Inter Miami.
"I would have certainly liked to dictate the game more up a man and see that game out in a better fashion," Olsen said. "But it's important to win while you're still learning about your team. That's the situation we're in now. We're still figuring it out — a lot of new guys, some injuries we had to deal with today."
Olsen had praise for Miami star Rodolfo Pizarro ("he's a great addition to this league ... he's a special player") and his own debutant forward Erik Sorga ("in the short-term he's going to play a big part in this team"), but he bemoaned the injuries that forced his starters Ola Kamara and Joseph Mora to leave the game.
"Ola seems to be a hamstring and Mora seems to be the same," Olsen said. "Ola has had a niggling hamstring over the last couple of weeks but he's been training. ... It's not great. Too many soft-tissue injuries right now. We certainly have to look at that and what we're doing and what the players are doing because it's just too many."
D.C. United next travel to face FC Cincinnati on Saturday, March 14 (5:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in USA; MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada).
