Revolution search for first road win vs. United (Aug 26, 2017)
D.C. United may find itself in the unfamiliar position of favorite on Saturday night, when it hosts a New England Revolution team that is winless on the road this season.
While it still sits in last in the Eastern Conference, D.C. (7-15-4, 25 pts) is coming off its second back-to-back wins of the season and preserved clean sheets in two consecutive matches for the first time in 2017.
The second came with a makeshift centerback pairing of Kofi Opare and Jalen Robinson, the latter of whom was making his seventh MLS appearance.
"The kid can play," Opare said of Robinson after the game. "He's shown it before. And he just got in, and kept it simple. Did his job."
The playoffs are still a huge longshot for coach Ben Olsen's group, which enters the weekend 11 points beneath the playoff line with only eight games to play.
But after beating Colorado last Saturday away and Atlanta at home Wednesday by identical 1-0 margins, another victory could bring the Black-and-Red within a point of overtaking New England (8-11-5, 29 pts) and escaping the bottom rung of the East standings for the first time since the start of July.
United has also finally gotten some good fortune, winning its last two matches via own goals from the other team. Overall, D.C. has received three own goals.
Meanwhile, the Revolution remained the only Eastern Conference team that is still winless in the away portion of its 2017 MLS schedule following a 2-1 defeat at New York City FC last Sunday that was trying in multiple ways.
First, there was the way the Revs lost, taking the lead on Teal Bunbury's 57th-minute goal before David Villa's equalizer 20 minutes later set the stage for Jonathan Lewis' winner late in stoppage time.
Then there was the collateral damage of a knee sprain to U.S. international Kelyn Rowe suffered in the game's dying moments. The versatile midfielder is expected to miss six to eight weeks.
The Revs still have two more games left than D.C. to make up ground in the playoff chase. They are also anticipating the club debut of Hungarian international forward Krisztian Nemeth, signed earlier this month.
"We can't be anything less than that to be honest," Bunbury told mlssoccer.com after the loss. "We have to continue to grind and we're going to get a road win. That's the only way we're going to be able to make it to the playoffs in my mind is being able to get if not more than one win on the road."
