Tai Baribo Scores in Fifth Straight Match, Sean Johnson Stands Tall as D.C. United Draw 1-1 at CF Montréal

CF Montréal took 20 shots, held two-thirds of the ball and still had to settle for a point at Stade Saputo on Saturday night. That is what Sean Johnson and Tai Baribo can do to a building.

Prince Owusu put Montréal ahead from the penalty spot early in the second half, Baribo headed in the equalizer in the 66th minute, and D.C. United escaped with a 1-1 draw. Johnson made seven saves on the night D.C. United said marked his 450th MLS appearance, and Baribo scored in a fifth consecutive match, per the club and the AP. For Montréal, it was more of the same: per the AP, the hosts are now winless in eight straight.

A Feeling-Out First Half

D.C. United actually started with more bite. Baribo headed a Keisuke Kurokawa cross high and wide in the fourth minute, Louis Munteanu tested Thomas Gillier from distance in the 11th, and Munteanu headed wide a minute later.

Montréal's first serious look came in the 17th minute, when Owusu got a left-footed shot away from the middle of the box and Johnson saved it. Two minutes later, D.C. United's Jackson Hopkins went down, the referee ruled it simulation, and Hopkins was booked. Baribo nearly made up for it in the 31st, glancing a header just wide off a set piece, while Hennadii Synchuk fired over for Montréal in the 37th. It was 0-0 at the break, and nobody watching would have bet the house on either side.

Penalty, Then a Party Crasher

Montréal broke through right after the restart. Johnson saved a Synchuk shot from outside the box in the 47th minute, and moments later Kurokawa was penalized for a handball in the area. VAR confirmed the call, Kurokawa was booked, and Owusu stepped up in the 50th minute and drove a left-footed penalty high into the middle of the net.

The home side then let D.C. United off the hook. Dani Pereira fired over in the 52nd, and the visitors made a change in the 62nd, sending on Jared Stroud for Hopkins while Montréal brought on Dawid Bugaj and Matty Longstaff. Four minutes later, Kimito Nono, making his D.C. United debut, swung in a first-time cross from the right, and Baribo, charging to the near post according to the AP, flicked a header from the right side of the six-yard box into the top right corner.

Johnson Shuts the Door

From there, it was Montréal's attack against Johnson's gloves. Owusu missed to the right off a corner in the 77th minute. Johnson saved from Synchuk in the 78th and from substitute Daniel Ríos in the 80th, then watched Synchuk send a shot just wide in the 81st. Andre Dozzell fired over for D.C. United in the 83rd, Brayan Vera missed from distance in the 84th, and Johnson saved Vera's next try in the 89th.

The craziest sequence came in the fourth minute of six added. Ríos headed wide, Johnson saved a Longstaff header from a difficult angle, and Olger Escobar, on only since the 90th minute, hit the left post. Escobar had one more shot blocked from the left side of the six-yard box in the sixth minute of stoppage time, and that was that.

The Men Who Mattered

Sean Johnson was the difference between a point and a loss. ESPN credited him with seven saves (D.C. United and the AP counted six), four of them after the 75th minute, and D.C. United said the 450th MLS appearance brought him to third all time in league appearances.

Tai Baribo needed only three shots for his 12th goal of the season, and the AP noted it was his sixth in seven games. That puts him one off the league lead of 13 shared by Nicolás Fernández, Petar Musa and Hugo Cuypers, per the AP. Few strikers in MLS are hotter right now.

Kimito Nono made an instant impact with an assist on his club debut, which D.C. United called his first contribution in a D.C. United shirt.

Prince Owusu scored from the spot and finished with four shots, two on target. Hennadii Synchuk also had four shots, two on target, and was Montréal's most dangerous player in open play.

The Moment It Turned

The turning point came in the 66th minute. Montréal had a lead, the crowd and nearly all of the ball, and the hosts were one more goal from putting D.C. United away. Instead, one cross from a debutant and one header from a striker who cannot stop scoring flipped the match, and the final half hour became a shooting gallery that Johnson simply refused to close.

Numbers That Tell the Story

• Possession: Montréal 66.6 percent, D.C. United 33.4 percent.
• Shots: Montréal 20, D.C. United 7. On target: Montréal 7, D.C. United 2.
• Saves: Johnson 7, Gillier 1.
• Clearances: D.C. United 36, Montréal 19.
• Tackles: D.C. United 23, Montréal 12.

What It Means

D.C. United moved to 5-9-5 with 24 points. The draw extended the club's unbeaten run to six matches, per D.C. United, though the AP noted only one of those six was a win. That run includes a 4-4 home draw with Montréal on May 23, per the AP. D.C. United hosts the New England Revolution on Wednesday, Aug. 19.

Montréal moved to 4-5-10 with 17 points, and its last MLS win came on May 9 against Orlando City. Montréal visits the Columbus Crew on Wednesday, Aug. 19.

The Goalkeeper Ate

Every so often a goalkeeper turns a match into a one-man highlight package, the soccer equivalent of a closer striking out the side with the bases loaded. Johnson did that for most of the second half. Montréal will look at 20 shots and one goal and see bad luck. D.C. United will look at its six-match unbeaten run and see a team that has learned to survive nights when it barely has the ball.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Match notes as reported by D.C. United (dcunited.com), CF Montréal (cfmontreal.com) and the AP via ESPN.