Apr 27, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; D.C. United forward Christian Benteke (20) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the first half against Seattle Sounders FC at Audi Field. Mandatory Credit: Hannah Foslien-USA TODAY Sports
The Good: I talked about the need for homegrowns to start turning heads and I left Jacob Murrell out of the piece. He is a draft pick and so far he looked like a project. We all know that the draft is more of dice roll than cultivating your own talent. He got the start today, and actually turned some heads. He did nearly everything today, but score. He placed himself in good positions and forced some incredible saves from Seattle. DC has been missing a guy who has some sauce with Ted injured and Murrell provided some of that. Troy has built a system that can put opponents under pressure, but they sometimes lack the creativity to execute on those chances. Murrell showed some serious promise in thinking outside the box and trying things that nearly led to goals. He also had several prime opportunities to pull DC United ahead. With Ted not yet healthy Murrell, has rocketed up the attacking depth chart.
I highlighted in my preview piece that Bono was certainly under some pressure. Tyler Miller is back and healthy enough to appear on the bench. This team has struggled to hold on to leads and even up a man, they needed him to step up. He did on multiple opportunities and helped DC United secure 3 points tonight. He produced some stellar saves and placed himself correctly to smother any chance of a Seattle equalizer. It was a massive performance from him when DC United needed it most. Right now, he remains the starter for DC United.
Hard to not also mention Christian Benteke who continues his Golden Boot chase with two goals tonight. He tucks away the penalty and rises above in classic fashion to score the game winning goal. It is worth mentioning that other than these opportunities, he didn’t get many other clear looks. Really Jacob Murrell had more open play chances than Benteke tonight. Which in all honesty might be a good thing. Benteke taking advantage of the chances he is given fully will propel the chances for this team.
The Not So Good: Let’s briefly touch on the fact DC was up a man and did manage to get the lead but struggled to build on it. Seattle’s struggles and suspensions have very much been a talking point, but make not mistake on the team’s quality. Being able to Ruidiaz off the bench should almost be a cheat code. He absolutely started to flip the game in their favor and was incredibly dangerous on several moments. There were times DC United were bent to the very extremes. They didn’t break, but I think it underscores the limitations of this roster. There wasn’t a true game changer or player to really comfortably see this game out or capitalize and add to their lead. This is all a work in progress right now, but there is still plenty of good and surprise to find in this roster. That has been missing over the last couple games and Murrell certainly provided that.
I understand that Christian Dajmoe is younger than Pedro Santos, but at this point it is clear that he is not an answer as a LWB. His miss in the midfield leads to the opening Seattle goal and there were several moments going forward where a misplayed pass pretty much killed any DC attack. He occupies a sizeable chunk of the DC roster. While he is far from a disaster, the team will undoubtably be thinking of finding a player that can deliver on his massive contract.
Player Spotlight: Jacob Murrell deserves the spotlight mostly because we haven’t seen another player come out and surprise us like that. He didn’t have a TKDP off the bench game tying assist and game winning goal, but he showed the ability to grab an opportunity when presented to him. I want to see much more of him this year in a starting role. If Ted can’t start next week then, we should absolutely have Murrell out there. If Ted can jump right in well maybe you look to move things around to fit Murrell into this lineup.
Looking Ahead: DC United now get another opportunity to secure 3 points at home, and they will do it with a full week of rest. Seattle will have a mid-week match against Philadelphia after their previous game was abandoned due to weather. DC is the beneficiary as they get a home match against an opponent on short rest. However, Philly is by no means an opponent DC should take lightly and they have built the depth to weather the storms DC United can’t. Not to mention they have owned this matchup for several years at this point. It will be a tough match up regardless of the circumstances, but it still offers a chance for DC to further solidify their playoff chances right now.
Final Thoughts: It is 3 points and a win. I think this game will seem unremarkable because it was a team up a man and seeing out a result. You need to dig deep to find useful info to build on for this game. Still, DC United has struggled to see out results and struggled to fight back from being a man down. The red card doesn’t happen from the opponent doing something stupid. It comes from McVey creating an opportunity for Stroud and forcing Frei to make a tough decision. This is their first come from behind victory in 28 matches, which is wild to actually thing about. This remains as always about the journey not the destination, and I remain excited for next week.