DC United -Baas Troy Lesesne believes that younger Jacob Murrell can push back his team in the play -offs after the disappointment of missing last year.
Murrell was the hero in their last MLS meeting and scored a stunning overhead kick in the sixth minute of the second half of the stop time to earn a 2-2 draw with the Chicago Fire.
The 20-year-old started the season with a goal and an assist in his two MLS performances, after only six games in the last campaign of the League started.
And Lesesne believes that Murrell has all the right ingredients to supplement the attack on his part, led by last year's top scorer, Christian Benteke.
“I'm really trying to be honest [the players] And don't expect them to agree, “Lesesne said.
“In the case of Jacob you could say that he probably doesn't disagree deep inside. And that's a good thing, you know? I mean, that's the competitor in him.
“He is the type of person who is fully committed to help us change the momentum and let DC United go in the right direction.
“He really made that clear to the team. That is part of his intention for 2025. And when he places that intention outside of it, you can now see him with action.”
Jacob Murrell. What a freak goal. pic.twitter.com/ReH2PI3FLC
– DC United (@dcunited) 2 March 2025
Sporting Kansas City is now one of only three games in the Western Conference to register a victory at their opening of two games of the new campaign.
After their 1-0 loss in their season opener for Austin FC, the side of Peter Vermes opened their home campaign with a 2-1 defeat for a rejuvenated earthquakes in San Jose.
“When we had to make our changes, I think we lost a little rhythm,” said Vermes, the longest coach in MLS, when he was asked about the debilitating schedule.
“I would not say that we had no other equipment. I just think it was difficult to break them down, and we are just early in the season.”
In the game, Vermes was forced to make three changes halfway through their defeat against San Jose, with Jake Davis pressing on the right.
Davis played on the right back this season for each of the first four games of the club, but it is not where Vermes would rather play him, with a different position in midfield in which he is strong.
In 12 games as a midfielder, Davis registered a goal and four assists. In the 13 games in all games in 2024 that Sporting won last season, the 23-year-old played in the center of the field in five of those victories.
“I think if you just play a conservative game, you don't get the reward for the risk. He is a man who takes on a 40/60 ball into a 100% tackle that he wins,” said Vermes.
“Those are the kind of risks that you want and can take in that part of the field. I think he feels much more comfortable there.”
Players to watch
DC United – Jacob Murrell
Murrell's equal goal in the 96th minute previous time-out was the seventh result-changing goal that DC United scored in the fifth minute of the stop time or later since the beginning of the 2020 season, more than any other MLS team at the time.
Although they only came up in the 61st minute, the American registered two shots, a totally only improved by Benteke (eight), and he will like to have a similar impact from the start.
Kansas City – Dejan Joveljic
Joveljic scored from the penalty spot in his first MLS start for Kansas since his blockbuster stepped from De La Galaxy during the low season.
Dating from the play -offs of the last campaign with the Galaxy, he scored seven goals in his last six MLS Starts, including scoring in each of the last four (regular season and play -offs).
Not the result we wanted, but we will continue to fight and work hard.
Happy to score my first goal for #sportingkc.
Thank you for your great support! pic.twitter.com/oysir58jiu
– Dejan Joveljić (@joveljicdejan) 2 March 2025
Match forecast: DC United Win
DC is unbeaten in six straight home matches against Kansas City (W2 D4), although this will be the first meeting between the parties in DC since May 2019. The last road of Sporting on United was a 1-0 win in March 2012.
However, they only won one of their last 13 house competitions for the regular season, dating from the beginning of May 2024 (D6 L6). Every other team that played in the last MLS campaign has at least three home winning in the regular season game at that time.
In the meantime, Sporting has lost nine straight matches in all competitions, the longest outright losing series in club history (excluding escape losses). Only four teams in the MLS history have lost 10 consecutive matches in all competitions, the most recent Toronto FC in 2023.
Opta wins probability
DC United – 47.3%
Drawing – 26.2%
Kansas City – 26.5%
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