D.C. United will attempt to start another winning streak when they host Nashville SC on Saturday night.
D.C. United (4-5-2, 14 points) saw a three-game winning streak end during last weekend's 2-1 loss at FC Cincinnati. Yet head coach Wayne Rooney believes there was a lot to like from a narrow defeat against one of the Eastern Conference's best teams.
"It's strange because it's probably the best performance out of the last four or five games," Rooney said. "I thought after 20, 25 minutes, we started playing what we trained and tactically where we felt the space would be. ... I felt we were in real control. We just couldn't get the goal."
D.C. United were without center back and captain Steven Birnbaum (hip) and gave up a pair of second-half goals. Former D.C. attacker Luciano Acosta scored directly from a corner kick in the 59th minute and then assisted on Alvaro Barreal's goal in the 73rd. Taxi Fountas' third goal of the season in the 90th minute cut the D.C. United deficit in half.
Birnbaum is expected to be out again this weekend.
Nashville (5-3-3, 18 points) was without center back and captain Walker Zimmerman (groin) in last weekend's 3-0 victory over the Chicago Fire.
There was some relief early this week after scans showed that Zimmerman's injury was relatively minor. He officially is listed as questionable for Saturday's game.
"We're in a position where the scan has not revealed anything too sinister, which is great," Nashville head coach Gary Smith said. "He's feeling something in that area that we need to be sensible about. But the diagnosis is far better than I think any of us felt."
Nashville winger Randall Leal could play for the first time since the opening weekend after he started in a midweek U.S. Open Cup victory over FC Dallas.
And Hany Mukhtar is beginning to show the form that led him to last year's MLS Golden Boot and MVP honors after a hat trick against Chicago brought his season total to six goals.
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