D.C. United did not have the evening they were hoping for in St. Petersburg, Florida, and finished their 2019 preseason with a 3-0 loss to the Montreal Impact. Ignacio Piatti, the Impact’s star player, scored in the 8th minute, before Maxi Urruti and Mathieu Choinière finished off the scoring in the second half. The Black-and-Red only had one shot in the first half, and then were denied a chance at an equalizer in the second half when a video review took back a penalty that Steven Birnbaum won.
Most of the same group that started on Wednesday were back in the lineup on Saturday, with three changes. Leonardo Jara was back in as right back, after exiting the game against the Tampa Bay Rowdies last Saturday early. Lucas Rodriguez also was back in the starting lineup, having missed the past three games with an injury. And Frederic Brillant got the start alongside Birnbaum, after Jalen Robinson had the honors against the Philadelphia Union.
Rodriguez came out of the game after just half an hour. Though it did not appear that the Argentine had any visible injury, it could have just been the plan to give him a short run out as he tries to get fully fit before the start of the season on March 3.
In the 8th minute, United could not recover quickly enough from a turnover in their own end, which lead to the opening goal. Piatti got the ball to Urruti, who joined the club in the offseason from FC Dallas, at the top of the box. Urruti didn’t pull the trigger on a shot, but turned back and laid a pass off to Piatti, who calmly passed a shot by the diving Bill Hamid.
Urruti test Hamid in the 19th minute, forcing a save out of United’s first ever homegrown signing. A bad turnover by the Black-and-Red allowed Piatti a look at goal in the 26th minute, but the playmaker couldn’t keep his effort on target.
Micheal Azira couldn’t beat Hamid from in front of goal after a nice buildup down the left from Montreal. And then in the 41st minute, Luciano Acosta had United’s only shot of the half, a long range effort that was off target, as United struggled time and time again to generate much on the offensive side of the field.
Left back Joseph Mora created a moment for United early in the second half, after being played into space by Acosta. The cross from Mora looked more like a shot, forcing Impact keeper Evan Bush to push the ball out for a corner.
Hamid, who made several fine saves against the Union, was called into action twice in the 62nd minute, keeping United in the game. First, Urruti burst past United’s back line, but couldn’t finish his one on one opportunity, with Hamid making the save with his legs. The rebound fell to Clément Bayiha, who tried to go over Hamid, but the keeper recovered in time to push the ball out.
Acosta successfully dinked the ball past Bush on a broken play in the box for United, but his effort was cleared off the line by Montreal’s defense. United then thought they had a penalty in the 69th minute, when Birnbaum was fouled by Bush on Wayne Rooney’s free kick. However, before Rooney could take the spot kick, the referee signaled for a video review, which showed Birnbaum offside on the free kick.
It looked like United might have escaped with the one goal loss, but two late efforts from the Impact made the scoreline worse for the Black-and-Red. In the 79th minute, Choinière cut back on the left hand side, with Jara slipping and falling trying to stay with the ball. Choinière found Urruti in the middle, and the striker sent a low shot past Hamid.
Choinière then capped off the night for the Impact with a thunderous goal just as stoppage time began. A free kick from Bush was headed into the path of Choinière, and the 20-year-old smashed a half volley that bounced in off of the woodwork, giving Hamid no chance to make the save, confirming United’s woeful night to end the preseason.