PORTLAND, Ore. — It's still early, two weekends into a 34-game campaign that will soon leave winter behind and consume the spring and summer before moving into fall. When MLS gets into full swing, DC United's early performances under its ambitious, young coach will be a distant memory.
But these early returns — which included a two-goal second-half comeback that led to a 2-2 draw against the Portland Timbers on Saturday — are a good sign for a team and a struggling fan base that has been struggling for years didn't have much to celebrate anymore.
United (1-0-1) plays proactive, high-energy football under first-year coach Troy Lesesne, and although top-scoring player Christian Benteke failed in the last minute and the deficit doubled early in the second half, the visitors hung on to the plan.
Some chances were wasted, others were thwarted by Portland goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau. United's persistence was rewarded with Mateusz Klich's 72nd-minute penalty and teenager Kristian Fletcher's equalizer ten minutes later.
“Even if we are down 0-0, you can see that we are moving the game forward,” said Lesesne. “When we’re 2-0 down, we push the game forward. We're down 2-1, we're pushing the game forward. You can say “relentless” is one of your values, but that’s the action behind it. This is what being a relentless team should look like.”
Lesesne and the players said they probably deserved more than a point.
“We could have won the game. “We should have won the game,” said Klich. “We were the better team. We had better chances.”
United showed strong determination against a Portland team (1-0-1) that had scored six goals in the first 151 minutes of the season, including four in the opener against Colorado.
“It would have been easy to get everything under control and prevent it from getting any worse,” said goalkeeper Alex Bono, who made an excellent save. “But we achieved that one goal and then we felt that the dynamic had really changed. There were moments after the equalizer when we could have found a winner. We had a really great, mature performance.”
Evidence of maturity came from a late-stage group that included three locally trained young players: Fletcher, an 18-year-old Bowie replacement; Jackson Hopkins, a 19-year-old reserve from Stafford; and Ted Ku-DiPietro, a 22-year-old starter from Oakton.
The finishing unit also included new additions Christopher McVey, Lucas Bartlett, Aaron Herrera in defense and Matti Peltola in defensive midfield. Returning striker Cristian Dájome replaced Benteke, who sustained a groin injury during pre-match warm-ups. “I hope it stays like this from week to week,” said Lesesne of Benteke’s injury.
Herrera created several opportunities on the right. On the equalizer, his low cross flew out of Crépeau's reach and hit Fletcher on the back, giving him an easy finish and his second league goal of his career.
“Perfect ball from Aaron,” said Fletcher. “I just had to be there.”
Unhappy with the game's draw, United continued to take the game to the Timbers.
After United equalized, “Klich pushed us back up [to restart the game] because we knew we had the momentum,” Herrera said.
Lesesne said his team “has proven something to ourselves about the type of character we want to portray.”
Still, “no one is really happy,” he added. “And that’s a good thing because we need to get a head start on what we want to do and not settle for the point where the performance would probably be more deserving of the three points.”
The players praised Lesesne for instilling an aggressive mentality.
“You get this relentless attitude from him, and that’s passed on to us,” Bono said. “No matter what situation we find ourselves in, no matter what the score is, there is always something to play for.”
Fletcher added: “We all bought into it.”
Klich said: “You can see the positive mood in the club. We can’t wait for the next game” next Sunday in Cincinnati.
United still have a few things to clean up. Although the chances to score were well created, the shooting was messy. Passive defending led to Portland's first goal when Santiago Moreno strolled free on the right side and Dairon Asprilla got into position for a 10-yard shot.
For Portland's second goal, Moreno took a stray cross to the back and slotted the ball past the advancing Bono.
The Timbers Army – the green-clad fanatics behind the north gate – celebrated and Timber Joey, the lumberjack mascot, spun his chainsaw.
United were unimpressed. “We didn’t have any doubts for a second that we could turn the game around,” said Fletcher.
Last year United didn't record a two-goal comeback.
“There are a million excuses we could have used and we didn’t use a single one,” Bono said. “We knew Christian would be out and decided nothing would change: the same game plan, the same aggression, the same style.”