LOS ANGELES — If the mission Tuesday was not difficult enough — MLS’s worst traveling across the continent to play MLS’s best with two days’ preparation — D.C. United’s task grew infinitely greater when it lost captain Steven Birnbaum to a red card early in the second half.
To that point, United had acquitted itself as well as could be expected from a last-place team still adjusting to new players, dousing high-charged Los Angeles FC and creating the better scoring chances.
But shortly after Birnbaum marched to the locker room, United’s noble resistance cracked. Five minutes after entering the match, Mahala Opoku shattered the deadlock in the 67th minute as LAFC claimed a 1-0 victory, extending its winning streak to seven and lengthening D.