In a match that saw New York City FC generate most of the scoring opportunities, their offensive woes continued against host D.C. United in a scoreless draw Wednesday night.
In a matchup of teams mired in offensive slumps, New York City (5-5-3, 18 points) failed to score for the third straight game.
It was the second straight scoreless effort for D.C. United (3-6-4, 13 points), who were hampered by the loss of top scorer Christian Benteke (six goals), who departed in the 20th minute with an ankle injury.
With Benteke sidelined, D.C. created few chances against New York City keeper Matt Freese, who made two saves in recording his fifth clean sheet this season.
Freese answered when needed in the 66th minute, however, as he made a sprawling stop of a right-footed blast by Rida Zouhir from outside the penalty box.
Freese added another save in the 79th minute when he lunged to stop a point-blank try by David Schnegg off a corner kick.
D.C. United keeper Luis Barraza had five saves against his former team, where he played the previous six seasons.
It was a frustrating night for NYCFC, which has struggled since losing midfielder Keaton Parks to an injury 10 days ago in a 1-0 win over FC Cincinnati, which is in first place in the MLS Eastern Conference.
NYCFC outshot D.C. 17-5 and had nine corners to four for D.C.
Last week, New York City sustained a pair of 1-0 defeats, including a loss to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the U.S. Open Cup. NYCFC also was dealt an upset defeat by CF Montreal, the first win this season for the last-place team in the MLS Eastern Conference.
With the draw, the teams remained even-up over their last nine matches with each going 3-3-3. The series standoff has come despite the disparate fortunes of the teams.
While New York City has reached the MLS playoffs in eight of the last nine years, D.C. has not qualified for the postseason since 2019.
–Field Level Media
