Major League Soccer is less than a third of the way through a 9½-month marathon that won’t conclude until the MLS Cup final in December. But for all intents and purposes, D.C. United arrived at the midpoint of Coach Troy Lesesne’s first campaign Saturday night at Audi Field.
Powered to a 2-2 draw with Toronto FC by Ted Ku-DiPietro’s 79th-minute strike and Mateusz Klich’s stoppage-time penalty, United completed the 17th match of the 34-game regular season and entered a two-week layoff with a pulsating comeback to relish.
“I told the group that the way that we fought back is what the expectation is now,” Lesesne said. “This is the type of behavior that we want to see, but we want to see this from the beginning.”
United, which punished Toronto after late red cards by Federico Bernardeschi and Nicksoen Gomis, sits outside playoff position at 4-6-7 and is mired in an 0-3-2 skid. But that will matter little to the 19,215 who witnessed its spirited rally Saturday, which culminated in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
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After video review caught Gomis committing an off-the-ball foul in the box, referee Jon Freeman awarded the penalty and gave the Toronto defender his second yellow card. Stepping up to the spot, Klich sent Toronto goalkeeper Sean Johnson the wrong way.
“When you’re 2-0 behind, it’s important that you keep fighting,” Klich said. “I’ve seen those games go 5-0. They’re hard. I think the group showed good spirit and good fight.”
After D.C. conceded the opener six minutes into a 4-2 loss Wednesday at CF Montreal, Toronto (7-7-3) needed less than two minutes to get on the board Saturday. Bernardeschi found space on the right side and flicked a pass to Derrick Etienne Jr., who buried his low finish from the top of the box.
Bernardeschi called his own number to double the advantage in the 33rd minute, when he faced up United’s Steven Birnbaum, feigned a pass and drilled a low, angled shot past keeper Alex Bono. It was the seventh goal in Bernardeschi’s past five MLS appearances after he recorded just five in 31 matches last season.
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“We put ourselves in a really difficult situation,” Lesesne said. “That’s been a little bit too consistent lately, where we have to fight back out of hard circ*mstances.”
D.C. nearly pulled one back shortly after the strike. But Birnbaum’s 15-yard one-timer rang the crossbar, and Johnson tipped away Christian Benteke’s chipped shot off a breakaway. Benteke, who entered the match tied for the MLS lead with 13 goals, pulled up in the 58th minute while pursuing a long ball and exited moments later — taking 57 percent of United’s attacking production this season with him.
Still, United persevered. When Jared Stroud’s stinging bid from range forced Johnson into a stellar save, Ku-DiPietro was there to poke home the rebound. And Toronto went down a man eight minutes later when Bernardeschi picked up a foolish second yellow card for lashing the ball away after the referee’s whistle.
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Once Klich equalized from the spot, United sent Audi Field into euphoria with an apparent winner by Stroud in the final moments, only for an offside flag to negate the strike.
After observing the FIFA break, United will return to the field June 15 at Charlotte FC in search of its first win since May 11.
“We know we’ve dropped points and we can do better,” Ku-DiPietro said. “And we will in the second half of the season.”
Here’s what else to know about United’s draw:
Injury updates
Lesesne downplayed Benteke’s injury, saying the Belgian striker was dealing with a minor muscular issue that he doesn’t anticipate keeping him on the sideline. But he had less encouraging news about Birnbaum, who left at halftime in his fourth start of the season after undergoing offseason knee surgery.
“He just kind of had a moment in the first half where he felt something in his knee,” Lesesne said. “We’re going to have to see again what the evaluation is, but I’m concerned about that one.”
Tubbs makes first start
Rookie defender Garrison Tubbs made his first professional start in place of Matti Peltola, who served a one-game suspension following his red card Wednesday. Tubbs, 22, had made four appearances off the bench since he joined United in a December trade with Atlanta, days after the former Wake Forest standout signed a homegrown contract.
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“Tried to just keep it as simple as I could till the nerves kind of settled down a little bit,” Tubbs said. “I felt good out there.”
United dressed just 17 players — three fewer than the limit — as suspensions to Peltola and Cristian Dájome (yellow card accumulation) hit a thin squad hampered by injuries. That roster included 17-year-old defender Matai Akinmboni, who was recalled from second-division Loudoun United and replaced Birnbaum at halftime.
Familiar faces aplenty
Kevin Paredes, a D.C. United academy product who played for the first team in 2020 and 2021, attended the match after completing his second straight season as a regular with German Bundesliga club Wolfsburg.
The 21-year-old winger was joined at the match by U.S. teammates Tyler Adams, Chris Richards and Haji Wright and Coach Gregg Berhalter, who are in town ahead of the U.S. team’s friendly against Colombia next Saturday at Commanders Field. As the national team prepares for this summer’s Copa América, Paredes will head to Kansas City, Kan., for a training camp with the younger squad that will represent the United States at the Paris Olympics.
