D.C. United’s playoff hopes take a hit with a loss against New England

United’s makeshift defense, however, crumbled in the closing moments, resulting in a 4-3 defeat to the New England Revolution. Teal Bunbury scored the deciding goal in the 84th minute, ending United’s three-match winning streak and four-game unbeaten run while denting D.C.’s playoff chances.

With four teams chasing two berths, United (5-11-6, 21 points) will need to win its regular season finale next Sunday against the visiting Montreal Impact (7-13-2, 23) and hope for favorable results during the week and next weekend.

Montreal and Chicago (5-9-7, 22 points, two games left) hold the ninth and 10th slots in the Eastern Conference, followed by Atlanta (6-12-4, 22), Miami (6-13-3, 21) and D.C.

In a fractured season, MLS expanded the playoff field to 18 of 26 teams, four more than planned. Ten from the Eastern Conference and eight from the Western will advance.

“It’s pretty simple for us,” D.C. interim coach Chad Ashton said. “We need to win the game and hope things go our way.”

They seemed to be going United’s way Sunday after Yamil Asad and Griffin Yow, 18, scored four minutes apart in the first half. But the Revolution (8-6-8, 32 points) answered with three goals in 37 minutes bridging halftime.

D.C. substitute Gelmin Rivas tied it in the 75th, but the defense was exposed again, and Bunbury buried a 12-yard shot for his second goal of the match.

United was without three back-line starters and one other regular. The most recent addition to the overall injury list, which is up to seven, was left back Joseph Mora, who received facial stitches Wednesday.

Center back Frédéric Brillant served a yellow-card suspension. Back-line partner Steven Birnbaum is injured.

Attacker Julian Gressel, who scored the winner against Columbus on Wednesday, remained home with his wife, who gave birth to their first child, Sophie, on Sunday.

“It’s just difficult when you have guys who haven’t played together a lot, guys playing a little out of position,” Ashton said. “We were just under it a lot. The minutes, the games — they add up, and still the guys scratched and clawed and did everything they could.”

The absences left just six available subs, three fewer than allowed. Two reserves were goalkeepers.

With limited options, Ashton used Russell Canouse, a natural defensive midfielder, in central defense. Kevin Paredes, a 17-year-old attacker, took Mora’s place.

United went ahead in the 22nd minute. Edison Flores floated a gorgeous ball from a top corner of the penalty area to Asad unmarked on the back side for a six-yard volley.

Four minutes later, Asad’s free kick into the heart of the penalty area fell to Yow for an eight-yard shot and his second career goal.

The Revolution answered in the 30th after Canouse took down Adam Buksa for a penalty kick. Carles Gil hit the left post, but Buksa smacked in the rebound.

Bill Hamid preserved the lead heading into halftime with two terrific saves, but in the second half he was under constant duress.

Tajon Buchanan beat Yow to the end line and crossed into the six-yard box. Canouse wasn’t under great pressure but instinctively stabbed at the ball, sending it past Hamid for an own goal.

New England’s pressure was as unrelenting as the rain. United’s resistance continued to dissolve.

In the 67th minute, the Revolution moved swiftly. Buchanan beat Paredes to the end line and crossed to Bunbury for a 10-yard finish.

Eight minutes later, Rivas settled Flores’s cross, turned quickly and lashed a 10-yarder into the near corner. It seemed enough to escape with a point, but the Revolution kept coming.

“You can’t get too down, because we still have next Sunday coming up,” Yow said. “If we get the job done then, we’ll have a pretty good chance. We have to put all focus toward that and keep our heads high.”

Notes: Columbus assistant Ezra Hendrickson, a member of United’s 2004 championship squad, is high on D.C.’s list for the head coaching job, two people close to the situation said.

Hendrickson, 48, has coached since 2009: nine years in the Seattle organization, one with the LA Galaxy and two with Columbus. He also was an assistant with the national team of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, his birth country.

Source:WP