D.C. United makes trade in advance of Atlanta matchup (Jun 21, 2017)
D.C. United has received some potential help for its league-worst offense ahead of Wednesday's home match against an Atlanta United team featuring plenty of attacking options.
Mired in a stretch of 665 minutes without scoring from open play, last-place D.C. United (4-8-3, 15 pts) on Tuesday announced the acquisition of Jamaican forward Deshorn Brown from the Houston Dynamo.
Brown hasn't played in MLS since 2015 and hasn't scored in the league since he hit 10 goals for the Colorado Rapids a season earlier.
But after scoring three times in 14 appearances this year for the lower division Tampa Bay Rowdies, Brown may already be the best option his new club. D.C. United has just 10 goals in 16 games and has been shut out 10 times.
"I'm hoping we can integrate him in the right way, get the ball to his feet in good spots," D.C. goalkeeper Bill Hamid told the Washington Post. "Hopefully it will translate to more offensive production."
D.C. United's last goal from open play came in a surprising 3-1 win at Atlanta on April 30. D.C. is 1-5-1 since, securing its only victory through Lamar Neagle's penalty kick in a 1-0 win at Vancouver on May 27.
At forward, Patrick Mullins (knee surgery) is projected to be a month away from a return, and Jose Ortiz has scored only once in 12 appearances.
Meanwhile, Atlanta (6-6-3, 21 pts) has failed to preserve a defensive shutout in its last 11 league matches, but still won three of its last five.
That owes largely to the explosive trio of Miguel Almiron, Hector Villalba and Josef Martinez, whose 20 combined goals double D.C.'s team total. Martinez's six goals have come over just 315 minutes, having sat out more than two months with a thigh injury.
Still, Atlanta coach Gerardo Martino says his club must be more efficient with its chances after wasting several in the previous meeting with D.C.
"We can't pay any attention to that," he said in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "We have to come into this game expecting a team that's averaging three goals a game because we need to keep ourselves focused. When we get into that mindset is when we start to make mistakes."
Atlanta has actually earned one more point on the road (2-4-3, 9 pts) than D.C. has earned at home (2-4-2, 8 pts). D.C. is winless and scoreless in its last four matches at RFK Stadium.
