D.C. United resumed the regular season Saturday heartened by positive developments just before MLS took a five-week break for its annual tournament against Mexican clubs. Troy Lesesne’s team had won consecutive games for the first time and welcomed three new players, all of whom started in the Audi Field return against FC Dallas.
Maybe, just maybe — amid low expectations in Lesesne’s first year and long odds entering the final quarter of the schedule — United was positioning itself for a playoff push.
What unfolded was a wildly entertaining mess of a soccer match, featuring six goals in the first half, slapstick defending, an ejection and ultimately a 4-3 defeat before an announced crowd of 17,766.