D.C. United 2, Kansas City Wizards 1
It took the unlikely combination of a journeyman Australian forward and a 19-year-old goalkeeper making his professional debut to help D.C. United finally end its worst start in franchise history with a 2-1 win over Kansas City.
Danny Allsopp, a free agent from Melbourne added in the offseason, hit twice in the first half to become the first Australian ever to score in Major League Soccer while Bill Hamid, who was signed from United’s youth academy last fall, made a range of saves that belied his inexperience.
Together, the pair provided just the kind of spark United (1-5-0) had been desperately lacking during its winless start to the year and ensured a measure of revenge against the Wizards (2-3-1), who had beaten D.C., 4-0, in the teams’ season opener on March 27 in Kansas City.
“I never told you guys, but all along that was how it was going to be,” said United head coach Curt Onalfo, who was fired last year by the Wizards. “I said patience and perseverance, and my first win would be against my former employer. That’s a joke.”
In front of an announced RFK Stadium crowd of 10,038 on a picturesque evening, Allsopp reeled in Rodney Wallace’s long pass over the top in the 12th minute, finding the net with a deflected left-footer off Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad to end United’s home scoreless streak in league play to start the year at 282 minutes.
Later in the half, Adam Cristman stepped into the path of a lazy pass by Kansas City defender Pablo Escobar and quickly fed Allsopp, who beat Wizards goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen low and left to double the D.C. lead.
“I think both of us were a handful for the other defenders,” said Allsopp of his partnership with Cristman. “We’ve also got competition for places, and we both just had to work hard together today, and we knew we just had to grind out a job for the team. Thankfully, it worked.”
Hamid became the youngest goalkeeper (19 years, 161 days) to register a victory in MLS, surpassing his childhood idol, Tim Howard, by four days.
Admittedly nervous, he fumbled the first cross that came his way but quickly settled down, making his 6-foot-3, 225-pound presence known in the box and finishing with five saves. In the first half he put his massive frame in the way of Chance Myers on a cross and tipped a long drive by Roger Espinoza. On the stroke of halftime he made his best save of the night, throwing his left arm up as he slid to tip Jack Jewsbury’s bouncing one-timer from inside the box.
“In that situation, it was just all reaction,” said Hamid, who’d lost his voice by the game’s end. “We do reaction drills with coach [Mark] Simpson all the time so I basically just did what my body did, and I turned around and the ball was in the stands so I was happy that happened.”
Immediately after the break Hamid cut off the lower right corner on a shot by Kei Kamara and corralled a cross that propelled all but his hands and the ball into the net.
Kamara made sure Hamid didn’t walk away with a career-opening shutout by latching onto Josh Wolff’s cross at the far post in the 92nd minute, but United still escaped with a long-sought first victory of the season.
“Hopefully we can start improving now because everyone’s been giving it everything,” said Allsopp. “Sometimes it just doesn’t work the way you want it. But everyone’s stuck together, and we hopefully turned the corner tonight.”
