Had the 2020 MLS season unfolded as planned, D.C. United would have been hosting its 12th match of the year at Audi Field this weekend. Instead, the two-year-old venue showed understandable signs of its coronavirus-induced stagnation.
At the main gate, two banners highlighting club legends remained tangled in the wind, unseen by a game-day crowd since MLS halted its regular season in March after just two weeks. The north-end goal frame was not upright on the field, but stored on top of the first few rows of the supporters’ section. There, the congested safe-standing setup installed this past offseason — in which white streaks of paint mark off each fan’s compact personal space — felt like a relic.