Tomorrow, D.C. United faces its biggest game in at least 2 years, and arguably since 2012. The Montreal Impact come to the District 5 points ahead of the Black-and-Red for the final playoff spot in the East. A loss would leave United with a gap of 8 points to make up in just 5 games, which is another way of saying D.C. would probably have to reel off five straight wins and still hope for Montreal to slip up somewhere.
United, having added Wayne Rooney and opened a new stadium, have a foothold on local relevance in a way they haven’t in years, but missing the playoffs is the surest way to lose the interest of D.