CHESTER, Pa. — Over the course of 90 long minutes Saturday, Ben Olsen’s one-win MLS team labored to keep pace with another one-win team. That D.C. United was level after Darren Mattocks’s terrific equalizer with about 20 minutes left was testament to the wonders of a sudden goal and to the Philadelphia Union’s inefficiency.
But salvation lasted a mere 98 seconds, and with another defensive lapse, United conceded the go-ahead goal and dropped a 3-2 decision at a sun-splashed stadium on the banks of the Delaware River.
“What happens is you become passive,” Olsen said in describing the gap between reward and punishment.