Christian Benteke, bicycle fan, delivers unreal goal for D.C. United

Benteke’s bicycle kick stunner has to be seen to be believed

Bicycles are popular in the District of Columbia, and Christian Benteke just wanted to do his part.

The D.C. United striker scored what is surely an MLS goal of the season contender, producing a bicycle kick against Charlotte FC in United’s 3-0 win Saturday night.

In a tense game of relatively few genuine chances, United’s biggest name — who in 2023 has looked more accustomed to life in MLS than in 2022 — made sure the Black-and-Red picked up a fourth straight win in all competitions.

United held a 1-0 lead and hadn’t given Charlotte much of anything after a loose opening 25 minutes or so, but some wasted chances (none more glaring than Taxi Fountas sending a sitter wide in the 70th minute) left the game up for grabs.

However, on a recycled set piece, the longtime Belgium target man produced one of the best goals in Audi Field’s short history. It started with Andy Najar swinging the ball back into the box, picking out Derrick Williams.

The Irish center back’s attempt to float a header towards Benteke didn’t quite work out, as Harrison Afful got to the ball first, but the veteran’s header away ended up being an unintentionally perfect set for Benteke to spike the ball past Charlotte goalkeeper George Marks.

Speaking to reporters at Audi Field, Wayne Rooney immediately pointed out that he’s been on the wrong side of a Benteke bicycle kick, when he was playing for Manchester United back in 2015.

“It was a pretty cool goal,” Benteke told reporters with incredible understatement after the match. “I was just hoping to have a good contact with the ball and hit the target.”

Benteke kept the jokes rolling when asked if he gave any thought to letting the ball fall for Donovan Pines or Ted Ku-DiPietro, who were both lurking.

“There was no way! There was no way I was going to let them shoot,” laughed Benteke. “I knew I wanted to do, and thank God it went through somehow.”

Watch Benteke’s incredible bicycle kick goal

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Ku-DiPietro, D.C. United youngsters spark wild, extremely late win

MLS Madness™ saw D.C.’s kids turn a sure loss into a shock win

Toronto FC would have gotten away from Audi Field if not for D.C. United’s crew of meddling kids.

In 2022, United didn’t get into the MLS Madness™ category outside of games that went terribly wrong, so in some ways 2023 is already better. United was 2-1 down as the 90th minute arrived, and looked like they were going to end up with a frustrating loss to TFC.

However, two stunning late goals — both sparked by young substitutes from their academy system — saw them rise from the dead to claim a wild 3-2 win at Audi Field on Saturday.

United had started well, getting a spectacular goal from their most prominent offseason addition Mateusz Klich, only for the game to drift away from them after halftime.

United managed just 0.5 expected goals by the 79th minute, and had seen Toronto equalize through Federico Bernardeschi’s 66th minute penalty. Mark-Anthony Kaye’s acrobatic finish after Bernardeschi’s curling long-range free kick seemed to doom the Black-and-Red to a game that felt a bit like something from last season.

Instead, a trio of academy youngsters in Ted Ku-DiPietro, Kristian Fletcher, and Jackson Hopkins ended up playing a major role in a wild, last-gasp comeback.

“To go 2-1 down was tough to take. I’ve obviously made the couple of changes,” Wayne Rooney told reporters after the match. “[I] put the young lads in and said ‘go and shine,’ so I think it was great. I’m delighted for [Ku-DiPietro], he’s been excellent all preseason.”

First, though, the 21-year-old got an assist. Ku-DiPietro, Fletcher, and Mohanad Jeahze (another offseason pick-up to make an instant impact) patiently played in a triangle, waiting for TFC to leave them an opening. Jeahze’s clever pass sent Ku-DiPietro into space along the endline, and the young attacker crucially took a moment to size up his options.

When you’ve got a target like Christian Benteke to aim for, the choice isn’t all that complicated, but Ku-DiPietro did very well to serve the ball on a platter as the veteran striker won a battle to head home a 90th minute equalizer.

A frigid Audi Field erupted, and United sensed their chance to take all three points. Within two minutes of play resuming, Hopkins broke free on the right and drove a low cross behind a scrambling TFC back line, but a lunging Benteke saw the ball zip inches from his reach.

Eight minutes into stoppage time, with what was likely the final look either team was going to get, a marauding run from Andy Najar unsettled Toronto. Najar — himself a United academy product from back in the day — fed Fletcher. In just his third MLS appearance, the 17-year-old disguised his intentions before touching the ball on to Jeahze, who in turn pinged a square ball into the mixer for Ku-DiPietro to crash home his first MLS goal.

Cue the big celebration: a knee slide, a shush, and some encouragement to the crowd behind Audi Field’s south goal.

“I just saw Fletcher flick the ball on to [Jeahze] and I just thought, ‘I gotta get into the box, because we can actually win this game right now,’ especially with the crowd behind their backs and momentum from our second goal,” Ku-DiPietro told a scrum of reporters in the home locker room.

Ku-DiPietro added that his knee-slide celebration was “just super fun. Always wanted to do it since I was a kid,” which conveniently ignores just how young he is himself.

Despite his obvious youth, Ku-DiPietro may feel like an older player on a United side full of youngsters. Fletcher and Hopkins, a U.S. under-20, made their impact at one end. At the other, 16-year-old Matai Akinmboni started at center back, going 78 minutes before leaving with what Rooney said was a cramping muscle.

“I’m delighted for Matai to come through the 70-odd minutes he’s come through, and he’ll learn from the penalty [he conceded],” said Rooney of the youngest player in his squad.

Rooney’s matchday squad, which also included midfielder Chris Durkin (an academy product who returned to the club after some time in Belgium), center back Donovan Pines, and 19-year-old defender Jacob Greene, had a total of eight players who came up through the D.C. academy pipeline.

Is Rooney psychic?

On top of the win, Rooney emerged as a possible clairvoyant, telling reporters that he effectively predicted how the game would go to his players.

“I actually said to them before the game, ‘there’s a possibility you might be losing the game and someone will come off the bench and win the game.’ And that’s exactly what happened,” said Rooney with the faintest hint of a smile.

Seeing the future or not, Rooney did note that the win was critical for United in multiple ways. The team lost a potential starter in Martín Rodríguez days before the game to a torn ACL, while 2022 All-Star Taxi Fountas suffered a hamstring strain even closer to match day.

After coming off of a difficult season and enduring plenty of less-than-glowing predictions in the winter, a home loss would have been more bad news. Instead, Rooney and United broke a winless run that dates back to August.

“We had a tough week, obviously, losing Martín [Rodríguez] with a knee injury, and then Taxi as well,” said Rooney. “I knew I’d be able to get an hour out of Nigel[Robertha], and then have Ku with his energy to come on and try to give us some of his individual magic, which he can do. I think to start the season with three points against a good team — Toronto are a very good team — we’re all delighted.”

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Christian Benteke leaves Crystal Palace for MLS in club record deal for D.C. United

Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke has joined Wayne Rooney at D.C. United after the clubs reached a deadline day deal.

Christian Benteke is heading to D.C. United, as the MLS club announced a deadline day move to acquire the Belgium striker from Crystal Palace.

Benteke, 31, will be available to play for Wayne Rooney’s side once his International Transfer Certificate and U.S. work visa are approved. His contract runs through the 2024 season, with a club option for 2025.

“Christian is a top player who has played at the highest level for a long time,” said Rooney in a club statement announcing the move. “His experience and ability to score goals and help the team will be invaluable. It’s exciting for the team and myself to get him in and playing. He will make a huge difference.”

With 45 caps for Belgium and 280 Premier League appearances, Benteke will be expected to be one of the most dangerous strikers in MLS once United can put him on the field. Still, the move comes after a rough patch with Palace, where Benteke began the 2021-22 season as the club’s first-choice striker only to fade into a substitute role due to poor finishing form. His last Premier League goal came in November of 2021, and he only appeared in four of Palace’s final 16 games of the season.

That said, in the 2020-21 season, Benteke scored 10 goals for Palace, a rate that points to having the quality to help an MLS team in need. United sits at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, and are 27th out of 28 teams. 19 teams have scored more goals than the Black-and-Red this season, though the presence of Taxi Fountas (11 goals) and Ola Kamara (8) has left them less in need of a goalscorer than better play at the back.

“We are getting an elite striker in Christian and completing this signing on transfer deadline day is a huge accomplishment for the club,” said United GM Lucy Rushton in a team statement. “Christian is a dynamic forward who has scored goals at the highest levels. His strength and power will make him a focal point of our team and his ability to link-up play will be a valuable asset to us. We are excited to get Christian integrated with the team so he can make an immediate impact on the field in the final stretch of the season.”

How will Benteke fit in with D.C. United?

Rooney’s plans for Benteke surely include a partnership with the electric Fountas, but how that will look remains to be seen. Since Rooney officially signed on as the team’s new head coach, they have played out of a 4-2-3-1 formation, then a very fluid 4-4-2, and on Wednesday night used a 4-3-3 that Rooney hinted was tailored for Charlotte FC.

For most of 2022, United has been a high-pressing team, but under Rooney, they have dropped their lines off and seem more ready to find a big center forward’s feet (having traded to acquire another target man, Miguel Berry, earlier in the transfer window) than the previous, more vertical approach.

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