Minnesota United aims to discover offense vs. D.C. United (Jul 29, 2017)
Something will have to give when Minnesota United's sputtering offense meets D.C. United's struggling defense in a match between last-place teams on Saturday night.
Minnesota (5-12-4, 19 points) has gone scoreless during its last 351 minutes of league play, a span of almost four complete matches. The team is winless in five straight games.
What's been even tougher to take for the Loons in their inaugural MLS season is that they've been shut out in three consecutive games during a four-match homestand that concludes with Saturday's encounter against D.C.
One reason for the struggles has been an injury bug that has hit particularly hard, with nine players still listed on the league website's injury report as of Friday.
That forced new signings like Scottish winger Sam Nicholson and New Zealand defender Michael Boxall into immediate action in last weekend's 3-0 defeat to the New York Red Bulls. The pair has rejoined the last-place team in the Western Conference only a day earlier after tending to visa issues in Canada.
"Trying to find a nice way to put it other than expletives," Boxall said on mlssoccer.com after the game. "I haven't really played for like a month. I wanted to get the fitness back, but having to spend half the week in Canada sorting that stuff out is less than ideal. Things can only get better than today."
Meanwhile, D.C. United (5-13-3) is the only team with worse current form than Minnesota, having lost five consecutive matches for the first time since dropping seven straight in 2013.
The Black-and-Red have scored a league-worst 18 goals and at one point had a scoreless stretch longer than Minnesota's current run.
However, their more acute recent struggles have been defensive, allowing 11 goals over their last three matches and narrowly avoiding becoming the first MLS team to yield four goals or more in three consecutive matches.
Coach Ben Olsen still believes his team has the potential for a late-season turnaround. And unlike Minnesota, D.C. United at least has been getting healthier. Bobby Boswell and Nick DeLeon made returns from injury layoffs last weekend and Patrick Mullins was thought to be nearing one as well.
"I know you guys don't believe it when I say it, but I do have a lot of belief in this group," Olsen said on MLSsoccer.com following Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Houston Dynamo. "And I've got my group together. But we've got to start soon."
