Branko Boskovic was the best player on the field for D.C. United in its last two matches, but it turns out he was on the pitch for one play too many after scoring twice against New England in Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup qualifier. After limping off with a left knee contusion following a challenge by Revolution rookie Alan Koger, Boskovic didn’t travel with United to Houston to face the Dynamo tonight. The team had indicated that an MRI on Boskovic’s knee on Wednesday came back negative.
D.C. will also be without midfielder Kurt Morsink, who suffered a concussion late in the New England game.
While Boskovic and Morsink were left behind in Washington, defender Jed Zayner and goalkeeper Steve Cronin did travel.
Having returned to health after suffering a left hamstring strain in United’s season-opener, Zayner could be an important addition to a back line that is trying to gel and bounce back from a poor showing last Thursday against the New York Red Bulls.
“It brings stability,” United assistant coach Chad Ashton said of Zayner. “It’s obviously a guy who knows the players in the league. He knows tendencies of teams. He’s not seeing them for the first time.”
The indications that I’ve received are that Zayner will replace rookie Chris Korb at right back tonight as the only change from the starting 11 that D.C. used against the Red Bulls last week.
With Cronin, D.C. may opt to move Pat Onstad to a purely coaching role for the first time this season, which adds an interesting twist to his first return to Houston since leaving the Dynamo in the offseason to join the D.C. coaching staff.
