WASHINGTON — Tai Baribo got a measure of revenge on the Union in his first game with D.C. United, scoring the only goal of a 1-0 game to open the season at Audi Field.
It felt almost inevitable when Baribo scored against his old team in the 23rd minute, and not just because he screamed in celebration. The $4 million acquisition had put the ball in the net in the ninth minute too, but setup man Keisuke Kurokoawa was far offside in the buildup.
The guilty party on the Union’s side was a player who wasn’t supposed to start, defender Finn Sundstrom. Left back Frankie Westfield was scratched from the starting lineup just before kickoff — so close, in fact that the Apple broadcast announced him as starting.
Only when the teams took the field was it clear that Sundstrom was starting instead, with Olivier Mbaizo once again not on the game day roster.
Gabriel Pirani started the play for the goal by trapping Sundstrom with a great bit of hold-up work. He then sprung João Peglow to lead a 3-on-2 against the Union’s defense. Baribo was wide open to take the feed and send a first-time shot past Andre Blake.
The rest of the half was mostly as ugly as both teams wanted it to be. D.C. manager René Weiler set his team out in a 4-2-2-2 formation very similar to what the Union play, but with far less experience at it.
The teams combined for 21 fouls and six shots, with referee Guido Gonzales Jr. giving yellow cards to Olwethu Makhanya in the 41st minute and Jesús Bueno in the 45th.
On the free kick after Bueno’s infraction, Baribo hit the post with an open look. Halftime came mercifully soon afterward — and was livelier than much of the play, thanks to a concert from hip-hop group, the Sugarhill Gang.
The closest the Union had come to scoring was a Milan Iloski free kick that went straight to Sean Johnson, the veteran goalkeeper whom D.C. signed in the offseason.
Union manager Bradley Carnell withdrew Sundstrom at halftime for Geiner Martínez, marking the centerback’s Union debut.
Iloski came even closer in the 54th on a well-worked break up the field, but shot just over the bar.
Carnell made his first attacking substitution in the 58th: Agustín Anello went in for Jesús Bueno, and Indiana Vassilev moved back from the attacking midfield line to the defensive one.
But the Union’s momentum went right back out the window just seconds later when Ezekiel Alladoh was given a straight red card after a tussle on the end line with D.C.’s Lucas Bartlett.
After the game, Gonzales told the pool reporter from Washington’s WTOP radio station that Alladoh “directed an obscene gesture and language” at Bartlett. Gonzales’ written statement further said the ejection was for “offensive, insulting, abusive language/actions.”
Cavan Sullivan was next to enter for the Union, replacing Iloski in the 70th. Sullivan promptly took a corner in the 72nd that Nathan Harriel headed narrowly wide.
Baribo came close again in the 78th, hitting a low curler that Andre Blake dove to save. Carnell’s final substitutions came next, Alejandro Bedoya for Vassilev and Stas Korzeniowski for Bruno Damiani in the 79th.
The Union were actually the better team for most of the rest of the night, but could not find an equalizer through six minutes of stoppage time. The last chance came on a free kick on the game’s final play, with Sullivan serving a cross that Makhanya headed off target.
Up next is Thursday’s home leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup series against Defence Force FC at Subaru Park (7 p.m., FS1, TUDN). Alladoh will be eligible to play in that game since it’s a separate competition. And he won’t have much to worry about, since the Union hold a 5-0 aggregate lead from the first game.
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