COLUMBUS, Ohio — In the second half of Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to the Columbus Crew, D.C. United’s Julian Gressel released his frustration over his failure to keep the ball in play — and his team’s plight on this spring night — by side-kicking the corner flag.
United’s discontent was rooted in different shortcomings in each half. Before intermission, there were two goals conceded in a 15-minute span. After the break, a pulse of optimism was extinguished by wasted opportunities and near-misses.
And any hope of a late uprising was doused in the 75th minute by Darlington Nagbe’s sensational volley from distance.