For the better part of the last month, D.C. United took comfort in the belief that its tenuous position outside of a playoff berth was deceiving, that its lack of points was clouded by having played far fewer games than its opponents. After consecutive defeats Thursday at Philadelphia 3-2 and Sunday in Columbus 2-1, that margin of error has effectively been eliminated, barring a fantastic collapse by at least one Eastern Conference contender.
The only team United (9-10-11, 38 points) currently can catch with just one victory is New York (8-7-16, 40 points), which has played 31 matches to United’s 30.
United has two games in hand on conference-leading Kansas City (11-9-12, 45 points), the second-place Crew (12-12-8, 44 points) and Houston (10-9-13, 43 points), which is tied with the Union (10-7-13, 43 points) for third. But at least two wins — and probably three — in United’s final four matches likely will be required to catch any of them.
D.C. United also doesn’t need to be reminded: It hasn’t won two games in a row since 2009.
– Craig Stouffer
