D.C. United Salvages Dramatic Draw Against St. Louis CITY SC After Late VAR Twist

By Noah Ploff. Featured image photos Ariel Martinez. In article photos by Kingston Duhart.

Late dramatics, chaos, and heart are three ways to describe Saturday night’s MLS game between D.C. United and St. Louis CITY SC. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, but that final score does not fully show what occurred over more than 100 minutes inside Audi Field in Washington, D.C.

Both Teams Entered Needing a Result

D.C. United came into the game sitting seventh in the Eastern Conference with a record of four wins, four draws, and five losses; a less-than-stellar mark. St. Louis entered the clash in 14th place in the Western Conference, with a subpar record of three wins, three draws, and six losses.

Neither team had been performing particularly well this season, so this match was important for both sides, despite being early in the year.

St. Louis Controls the First Half

As the whistle blew and the ball kicked off, fans started to find their seats in anticipation of what they hoped would be a thrilling game and a D.C. United victory.

For the first half, it did not seem like they were going to get what they came for.

St. Louis dominated possession in the opening 45 minutes, holding the ball for more than 60% of the first half. D.C. United began the game a bit passive, not putting much pressure on St. Louis in its defensive half.

In the 28th minute, center back Fallou Fall of St. Louis was shown a yellow card for a poor tackle in his own half. This was the first of eight yellow cards shown over the course of the game, with five going to St. Louis and three to D.C. United.

D.C. United surrendered eight corners in the first half alone, but brought everyone but one player back to defend them and was able to prevent a first-half goal by St. Louis.

The final bit of action in the first half came when St. Louis right midfielder Conrad Wallem was shown a yellow card for an overaggressive tackle. As the referee blew his whistle signaling halftime, both teams went to the locker rooms tied with no goals for either side.

Chris Durkin Gives St. Louis the Lead

The second half is where the game really started to get exciting.

Fans had barely gotten back to their seats before central midfielder Chris Durkin received a pass from right winger Sang Bin Jeong and fired a shot into the bottom left corner past D.C. United goalkeeper Sean Johnson to make it 1-0 St. Louis in the 50th minute.

As they realized they were now down a goal, D.C. United began to show more urgency and started pressing a little higher and a little harder.

In the 58th minute, St. Louis central midfielder Miguel Perez was shown a yellow card for a bad foul. Shortly after, D.C. United right midfielder Jackson Hopkins was also shown a yellow card for a poor challenge in the 60th minute.

Substitutions Shift the Match

The first substitution for either side came when D.C. United defensive midfielder Matti Peltola was replaced by central midfielder Jared Stroud. Hopkins moved into the central role that Peltola had been playing, and Stroud moved out to the right side where Hopkins had been.

Play was about to get underway again when St. Louis made a few substitutions of its own. Miguel Perez, Sang Bin Jeong, and Cedric Teuchert were replaced by Daniel Edelman, Sergio Cordova, and Eduard Lowen, respectively.

This was a bold move by St. Louis, as they replaced their entire attacking three. The goal was most likely to get fresh legs on the field and continue to press D.C. United.

Right after those substitutions, D.C. United seemed to wake up.

They had a strong offensive stretch from the 63rd minute to the 70th minute, when they stayed in their attacking half and put constant pressure on St. Louis, creating some very good opportunities. Despite this stretch, they were unable to put anything past St. Louis goalkeeper Roman Bürki and remained down 1-0.

D.C. United Keeps Pushing

D.C. United was shown its second yellow card of the day when right back Silvan Hefti made a late challenge and was beaten to the ball.

Play continued, with both sides showcasing their transition game and stretching out long passes up and down the field. D.C. United began to gain a bit more possession and tried to find balls over the top of the St. Louis defense to strikers Tai Baribo and Louis Munteanu.

In the 78th minute, both sides made substitutions. D.C. United brought on Nikola Markovic and Conner Antley for Jackson Hopkins and Keisuke Kurokawa. St. Louis took off left midfielder Rafael Santos and replaced him with center back Tomas Totland.

This was a bit of a confusing change for D.C. United, as they brought on two center backs while down a goal with just over 20 minutes of regular time remaining. This became clearer when captain and center back Lucas Bartlett moved up into an attacking role in the 88th minute, and Nikola Markovic dropped back into the center back role.

The goal of the move was to have another bigger body up top for headers.

João Peglow Delivers the Equalizer

Then, in the 90th minute, D.C. United earned a corner.

The ball was sent into the box and headed away by St. Louis. However, that header came right to the foot of D.C. United left midfielder João Peglow. Peglow took a touch and rifled a shot through the defense and into the bottom left corner of the goal, past the outstretched arms of St. Louis goalkeeper Roman Bürki.

The crowd erupted, jumping out of their seats and high-fiving fans around them.

After that goal, D.C. United gained all the momentum and pressed furiously, trying to find a way to get a second goal and sneak away with the victory and all three points.

Red Card and VAR Add Late Chaos

As the match reached the 90th minute, the fourth official held up his board and showed a minimum of eight minutes of additional time.

In stoppage time, St. Louis made a defensive substitution, bringing on defensive midfielder Mbacke Fall for striker Simon Becher. St. Louis clearly did not want to allow D.C. United to find a second goal and take the victory.

Then, in the 92nd minute, Conrad Wallem made a very poor tackle on João Peglow and was shown his second yellow card, which meant he was given a red card. St. Louis was now down to 10 men, and it really started to look like D.C. United might find a way to pull this one out and scratch out a win.

D.C. United center back Kye Rowles was shown a yellow card in the 93rd minute, adding to the pile of yellow cards that had already been handed out over the course of the game.

D.C. United continued to put pressure on St. Louis with the visitors down to 10 men.

Deep into stoppage time, a cross was played into the box from the right side. The ball found its way all the way to the back post, where D.C. United striker Louis Munteanu was waiting. He tapped the ball into the back of the net, and the crowd of 13,838 went absolutely crazy.

It looked like a last-minute winner by D.C. United to put them on top 2-1.

But then the screen showed there was a VAR check for offside. The fans booed as they hoped the goal would stand. The referee then went to the screen to check for himself, and after watching the footage back a few times, he announced to the crowd that the play was indeed deemed offside.

Boos flooded the stadium, with fans upset and struggling to believe it was true.

Play continued, and at that point, St. Louis was just clearing the ball and trying to keep the score tied.

D.C. United Settles for a Point

Defensive midfielder Brandon Servania made his way into the center of the box and shot with his left foot, but the shot went just wide.

Not long after, the final whistle was blown, and the game finished in a 1-1 draw.

It was another disappointing end to a game for D.C. United. They now hope to have a short memory and look forward to their next game, as they host CF Montréal on Saturday, May 23, at 7:30 p.m.

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