Back on July 20th, D.C. United was not in a good place. The Black-and-Red was 5W-7D-7L, the definition of mediocrity. They had been held to one or zero goals on in 15 of their 19 games, and three of the times they did manage to get a second goal came against Vancouver and New England (teams that missed the playoffs). United wasn’t creating many chances, and when they did have a look at goal it was often wasted.
Meanwhile, about four hours north, Patrick Mullins basically not playing at all at New York City FC. Patrick Vieira’s various formations all featured a lone center forward, and with David Villa playing 90 minutes every week there simply weren’t any openings.