Tai Baribo Scores Twice in Return as D.C. United Hold Off Columbus Crew 2-1

Tai Baribo took two shots on Wednesday night. Both ended up in the net. That was more than enough for D.C. United, who survived a second half spent chasing yellow shirts around Audi Field and beat the Columbus Crew 2-1.

Baribo, back in the starting lineup after injury according to the club, scored in the 24th and 37th minutes. Santiago Rodríguez pulled one back for Columbus four minutes after halftime, and the Crew spent the rest of the night monopolizing the ball, hitting the crossbar and generally doing everything except scoring a second. D.C. had 28 percent possession. D.C. got the three points. Soccer, as usual, does not care about your pass map.

D.C. Hit the Woodwork, Then Hit the Target

Columbus actually threw the first punch. Rodríguez forced Sean Johnson into a save in the top left corner from distance in the 11th minute, and Malte Amundsen fired wide off the ensuing corner.

D.C. answered in a frantic two-minute stretch. In the 15th minute, Kimito Nono missed from the right side of the box and Louis Munteanu was denied by Patrick Schulte, and a minute later Nono rattled the crossbar off a Baribo pass. The yellow cards started flowing soon after, with Tarun Karumanchi, Cesar Ruvalcaba and João Peglow all booked inside the first 19 minutes.

The breakthrough came in the 24th minute. Munteanu slipped Baribo in close to goal and the striker finished from point-blank range. Columbus pushed back through Taha Habroune and Dylan Chambost, with Johnson saving a Chambost shot in the 30th, but D.C. struck again in the 37th. Nono swung in a cross, and Baribo swept a right-footed finish into the bottom left corner. 2-0 at halftime, and the visitors had little to show for all that early pressure.

Columbus Bring the Pressure

Interim head coach Laurent Courtois went to the bench at halftime, sending on Steven Moreira and Brais Méndez for Ruvalcaba and Habroune. D.C. boss René Weiler countered by bringing on Matti Peltola for Jackson Hopkins.

The Crew got their reward almost immediately. In the 49th minute, Mohamed Farsi won the ball near the top of the D.C. box, according to the Crew's site, and Josef Martínez fed Rodríguez, who drove a right-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom right corner. 2-1, and suddenly Audi Field was nervous.

The Turning Point: The Crossbar Takes Sides

The next 20 minutes decided the match, and the woodwork played referee. A minute after Rodríguez scored, Kye Rowles headed a Nono corner off the bar from close range for D.C. Then, in the 70th minute, Méndez smashed a left-footed shot from outside the box off the crossbar for Columbus. If either one drops, this is a different story.

Instead, Columbus kept knocking without getting through. Johnson denied Méndez from distance in the 61st minute, Amundsen fired over in the 63rd and Gonzalo Tapia, on for Martínez, had a shot blocked in the 67th. D.C. still had chances of their own. Rowles missed another close-range header off a corner in the 73rd, and substitutes Nathan Ordaz and Brandon Servania both forced saves from Schulte.

Rodríguez left in the 81st minute because of an injury, with Jamal Thiaré replacing him. Six minutes of stoppage time produced one last scare when Thiaré headed a Farsi cross wide, and D.C. held on.

The Standouts

Tai Baribo took two shots, put both on target and scored both. The club says they were his 13th and 14th goals of the season, which is excellent production for a player coming back from injury. It was efficiency with a capital E.

Kimito Nono had an assist, a shot off the crossbar and the corner that led to Rowles hitting the bar. He was D.C.'s most dangerous creator by a distance.

Santiago Rodríguez led all players with four shots and scored the Columbus goal. According to the Crew, the Uruguayan became the third player to score in each of his first two Crew regular-season matches, joining Cucho Hernández (2022) and Gyasi Zardes (2018).

Sean Johnson made three saves, all on shots from outside the box, and his defense handled 20 Columbus crosses well enough to keep the lead.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Columbus 72 percent, D.C. 28 percent.
• Passes: Columbus completed 664 of 731; D.C. completed 211 of 281.
• Shots: Columbus 16, D.C. 10, but D.C. put five on target to the Crew's four.
• Woodwork: D.C. hit the crossbar twice (Nono, Rowles), Columbus once (Méndez).
• Saves: Three apiece for Johnson and Schulte.

What It Means

D.C. move to 6-10-7 with 28 points, and the club says the win put them back into 11th place in the Eastern Conference. It was their first league win since July 25 against Toronto FC, snapping a five-match winless run that included three draws and two losses. They host Atlanta United at Audi Field on Saturday.

Columbus fall to 6-5-13 with 23 points and have lost five of their last six league matches, with Saturday's 3-0 win over the Colorado Rapids the lone exception. They host Red Bull New York on Saturday.

Courtois did not hide from the first half. "We knew exactly how they were going to try to hurt us," he said. "In the first half, we were not able to contain that. It was pretty obvious, and we were expecting it. In that aspect, we have no excuse."

Karumanchi focused on the volume. "Like, we had maybe 25 times where we entered their box. So, when you enter the box that many times, I think one or two or three have to go in," the rookie midfielder said.

Closing Take

This was a Marie Kondo performance from D.C. United: keep only what sparks joy, toss the rest. Columbus had the ball, the passes and the territory. D.C. had Baribo, two clean finishes and a crossbar that seemed to be on their payroll. In a playoff race, the second list is the one that counts.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by columbuscrew.com; club notes from dcunited.com.