João Peglow Rescues D.C. United in 1-1 Draw With St. Louis CITY SC as VAR Erases Late Winner

Six minutes into stoppage time, D.C. United thought it had completed the comeback. João Peglow had already leveled the game in the 90th minute, and Louis Munteanu then put the ball in the net for what looked like the winner. Then came the VAR review, and then came the reversal. Goal ruled out.

So D.C. United settled for a 1-1 draw with St. Louis CITY SC on Saturday night, a result that felt like a win for the hosts after trailing for 40 minutes and like a missed opportunity for the visitors after leading for most of the second half. Chris Durkin, facing his former club for the first time according to St. Louis, gave CITY SC the lead early in the second half. Peglow answered with a strike from outside the box. Neither side got the last word, which seems fitting for a series that, per St. Louis, still has no winner.

Bürki Holds Early, Then St. Louis Takes Over

D.C. United came out hot. Keisuke Kurokawa fired wide after an eighth-minute corner, Munteanu missed twice on fast breaks in the 11th and 12th minutes, and Roman Bürki had to get down to save a Kye Rowles shot from the center of the box in the 16th. Munteanu then headed a Brandon Servania cross wide in the 22nd minute.

Around the 25th minute, the game flipped. Simon Becher forced Sean Johnson into a save at the bottom left corner, and St. Louis spent the next stretch camped in D.C. territory. Shot after shot got blocked: Miguel Perez, Jeong Sang-Bin, Cedric Teuchert, Dante Polvara, Rafael Santos, Fallou Fall and Conrad Wallem all had efforts smothered between the 28th and 40th minutes. The one that got through, a Becher header in the 38th minute, Johnson saved at the top left corner. With no added time announced, the teams went in 0-0.

Durkin Strikes, D.C. Chases

Five minutes after the break, St. Louis finally cashed in. Jeong teed up Durkin, and the midfielder drilled a right-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner. ESPN credited Jeong with the assist; St. Louis also credited Becher. According to St. Louis, it was Durkin's second goal of the season and his eighth overall in MLS play.

D.C. head coach René Weiler went to his bench, sending on Jared Stroud for Matti Peltola in the 62nd minute, and the hosts started to find the box. Jackson Hopkins and Lucas Bartlett had efforts blocked in the 66th minute, Peglow blazed over in the 67th, and Bürki made back-to-back saves on a Tai Baribo header and a Stroud shot in the 79th and 80th. Munteanu headed just wide in the 84th minute, and the clock was running out.

Turning Point: Peglow From Distance

Then the 90th minute arrived. Fallou Fall conceded a corner, and from it Peglow struck a right-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner. D.C. United said it was his first goal of the season, and it could not have come at a better time.

The chaos only intensified. Wallem, booked in the first half, picked up a second yellow card for a foul in the second minute of stoppage time and was sent off. Bürki saved another Peglow attempt a minute later. Then, in the sixth minute of added time, Munteanu scored, and VAR ruled it out, with D.C. United noting that Stroud was offside in the buildup. Servania missed narrowly in the 11th minute of stoppage time, and that was that.

Star Watch: Peglow, Bürki and Two Busy Keepers

Peglow was the hosts' most dangerous player when it mattered: three shots, two on target, and the equalizer. D.C. United's own numbers had him winning seven ground duels and making five recoveries, the kind of two-way shift that rarely makes highlight packages.

Bürki was outstanding for St. Louis with four saves, three of them from the 79th minute on. Johnson made only two saves for D.C. United, but both came on Becher with the game scoreless. Durkin, meanwhile, delivered the moment St. Louis wanted against his former side.

The tough-luck award goes to Munteanu. He led all players with five shots, put none of them on target and had the only goal he did score taken off the board.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: St. Louis 56.7 percent, D.C. United 43.3 percent.
• Shots: D.C. United 16, St. Louis 15. On target, D.C. led 5-3.
• Clearances: St. Louis made 47 clearances to D.C.'s 18. That is a lot of defending for the team that had the ball.
• Crosses: D.C. United attempted 26 crosses and completed four.
• Discipline: D.C. United had three players booked, and Wallem's second yellow left St. Louis with 10 men for the final minutes.

What It Means

D.C. United moves to 4-5-5 with 17 points. After a 3-1 home loss to Chicago on Wednesday, salvaging a point from a losing position counts as progress, even if the overturned winner will sting. The Black-and-Red host CF Montréal on May 23, according to the club.

St. Louis moves to 3-4-6 with 13 points and is now unbeaten in three, following wins at Colorado and at home against LAFC with a road point. Given how close CITY SC came to three points, the draw may not feel like much of a reward. CITY SC turns quickly to a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal at home against the Houston Dynamo on Tuesday.

Closing Take

This game had an M. Night Shyamalan ending, with a twist on top of a twist on top of a twist. St. Louis led, D.C. leveled, D.C. appeared to win it, and then a VAR screen decided nobody won at all. Durkin got his homecoming goal, Peglow got his first of the season, and Munteanu got the kind of night strikers talk about years later, usually with a sigh. Nobody won, and somehow both sides left Audi Field feeling like they had lost something.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Match notes as reported by D.C. United (dcunited.com) and St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com).