The victory seemed as assured as a Charlie Davies penalty kick.
When Davies, who hadn’t missed from the spot in four attempts this season, stepped up to take his fifth penalty of the year just before halftime on Wednesday against New England, D.C. was on its way with a reward befitting its dominant opening 45 minutes.
But after Davies shockingly set his shot over the crossbar, United reverted to familiar dismal form at home, giving up yet another late goal and suffering a 1-0 loss to extend its winless streak at RFK Stadium to six matches and put the chances of a second half of the season push slightly more in jeopardy.
“It’s a huge missed opportunity,” United forward Josh Wolff said. “We’ve now had three or four of those at home. Hopefully, we don’t really regret it and miss the playoffs.”
D.C. United started the day unbeaten in five straight and facing a side that hadn’t won in nine games and hadn’t won on the road all season. In front of a vibrant crowd of 15,597 undeterred by the sweltering heat, United (5-6-8) had little trouble early breaking down the back line of the Revolution (4-9-7) and should’ve gone ahead before 20 minutes had passed.
Josh Wolff was sharp, Dwayne De Rosario did what he pleased regardless of the defender in his way, and in the 17th-minute, Davies cut the ball to his right foot, but his blast was denied thanks to a one-handed diving stab from New England goalkeeper Matt Reis, the first of his six saves on the night.
Davies was set to make Reis pay in the 44th minute after Pat Phelan’s raised right arm blocked Wolff’s volleyed cross. Instead, he did exactly what U.S. midfielder Carli Lloyd had done in the Women’s World Cup final three days prior.
“I leaned back, and it went over,” Davies said. “It was pretty painful to see that go over the bar.”
United still managed to regroup at halftime, but Reis’ presence seemed to grow as the minutes elapsed while the heat took its mental toll.
When United defender Perry Kitchen sprayed a seemingly harmless back pass out of goalkeeper Bill Hamid’s reach and over the end line, the Revolution seized on the ensuing gift of a corner kick, and Stephen McCarthy nodded the ball home for the lead in the 73rd minute.
Reis came up huge to preserve the visitors’ advantage with a kick save on De Rosario nine minutes later.
“We put a good effort in for the 45, the goal didn’t come, and then physically we tanked,” D.C. head coach Ben Olsen said. “I was disappointed we didn’t gut through it a little bit more and find a way to get a result.”
