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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