Match Report: D.C. United 0 - 0 Los Angeles FC

Written by Sam Brummitt

Photography by Sam Brummitt

Defender Kimitio Nono had seven defensive contributions and seven recoveries with 90 minutes played for the Black-and-Red.

Washington, D.C. – After conceding six goals in their last two games, D.C. United cleaned up their defensive issues and came away with one point from a 0-0 draw against Los Angeles FC (LAFC) at home.  With two regular starters in D.C.’s back four out for the game — Silvan Hefti (yellow card accumulation) and Kye Rowles (injury) — Andre Dozzell filled in at center back and Kimito Nono shifted to right back. Nathan Ordaz made his first start for the club. It was a big moment for the 22-year old forward, who grew up in southern California and came up through LAFC’s academy and first team before transferring to D.C. United in July this year. Ordaz’s first start for D.C. United came in a home game before a sellout crowd against his former team. Ordaz lived up to the moment by creating four chances in 89 minutes and demonstrating that he will play an important role in D.C.’s attack along with Tai Baribo and Louis Munteanu.

Saturday night was only the fourth time that these two clubs have met. In their only other match at Audi Field in April 2019, LAFC won 4-0. There was a tremendous build up to this match with a top Western Conference team playing in Audi Field for only the second time. Audi Field was sold out and buzzing on a warm Saturday night, with a large contingent of fans coming out to see LAFC’s Son Heung-min, Denis Bouanga, and Hugo Llloris. 

LAFC started the 2026 season hot with four straight wins – all four were shut outs – and the club was in the top three in the Western Conference standings through matchday 11 in early May. While their defense is near the top of the league (22 goals allowed through 22 games coming into the match against D.C.), their high profile attacking talent has struggled since the World Cup break. Coming into the match against D.C., LAFC had scored only five goals across seven matches in August. 

After using a 4-4-2 for the majority of this first year coaching D.C. René Weiler changed the club’s formation to a 4-3-3 against LAFC. With Tai Baribo, Silvan Hefti, and Kye Rowles, René Weiler shifted Andre Dozzell and Kimito Nono to center back and right back, respectively, and played Brandon Servania, Matti Peltola and Peglow in midfield and a front three of Nathan Ordaz, Louis Munteanu, and Jackson Hopkins.

The match was marked by close chances and impressive defensive displays by both sides. For LAFC, the best performance on the night was from Hugo Lloris, the 39-year old who won the 2018 World and logged a record 145 starts for the French national team. He demonstrated his world class shot-stopping skills with four saves on the night. 

D.C. United showed a cohesive and disciplined defense. The two players that stood out were João Peglow and Kimito Nono, who shut down LAFC’s Denis Bouanga (11 MLS goals to date this season, and 20+ goals in each of the last three seasons), and Son Heung-min, the 2021-22 Premier League Golden Boot winner. Kimito Nono demonstrated his flexibility to play anywhere on the right side. Nono joined D.C. United only a month ago and started his first three games as the right midfielder in D.C.’s 4-4-2. With Silvan Hefti suspended for yellow card accumulation, Nono started the LAFC match at right back. Nono spent much of the match marking Son Heung-min. He played the full 90 minutes and had 9 defensive contributions, 3 tackles, and 8 recoveries. D.C. largely neutralized LAFC’s high octane attack such that Sean Johnson had to make only one save on the night.

Both teams prefer to play against the ball and counterattack. LAFC had more of the ball on Saturday night and tended to build up play while D.C. continued to prefer long balls. The best chances for D.C. came in the 1st minute, when Peglow, who created seven chances in the game, was on the receiving end of a cross in the box only to head it directly to Lloris in goal.

Race for the playoff play-in spots: D.C. earned one point from this match but remained in 11th place. Going into matchday 22 (the August 29-30 weekend), Orlando, Toronto, and D.C. were all at 23 points a piece. The first tiebreaker in MLS is number of wins, followed by goal differential, and Orlando was in the final playoff spot based on having two more wins than D.C. and Toronto. Toronto sat in 10th, one spot ahead of D.C., based on goal differential. The standings remained the same following matchday 22 as D.C., Orlando, and Toronto all earned draws over the weekend and now sit on 24 points. Philadelphia is one point back from this trio, followed by Atlanta and Montreal with 21 points and Columbus on 20 points. With 12 games remaining in the 2026 season, every team is still in the playoff picture. 

Post-Match Quotes

René Weiler on the team’s performance without Baribo and Rowles:

“There’s an impact when you have two strong players from our squad not on the field because we don’t have {a} massive squad, like, for example LAFC. But I repeat, they {had} a great game. At the end, it’s a pity that we didn’t win this game. But {it was a} very good team performance.

René Weiler on the MLS transfer window ending September 2:

“Of course, you can strengthen the team always and we {still} have a couple of days to find these reinforcements.”

Three Points

1. Playoff Picture – D.C. United’s two losses against New England Revolution and Charlotte FC saw them drop out of the last playoff spot and down to 11th in the Eastern Conference. D.C. is level with 9th place Orlando City and 10th place Toronto FC at 25 points, but Orlando City have the edge in terms of wins and Toronto have a better goal differential (the first tiebreaker in MLS in wins followed by goal differential).

2. Record Against LAFC  – While the draw and one point meant D.C. maintained their 11th place position in the Eastern Conference, the team is still seeking their first win against LAFC as the draw brings D.C.’s record against that club to 0-2-2.

3. Late Season Injuries: Two key starters are out, Tai Baribo (knee) and Kye Rowles (thigh). Both are listed as questionable have missed the last several games. D.C.’s captain, the center back Lucas Bartlett, went down injured after an aerial duel late in the second half but played out the rest of the game in a protective head band. The August schedule was a grind five matches in hot weather. It will important for the team to stay healthy to improve their chances of a playoff push in the final months of the season. The next MLS Player Availability Report on Friday will give us an indication of which regular starters are available for Saturday’s match at Cincinnati.

Starting XIs

D.C. United (4-3-3)

Johnson; Nono, Bartlett (C), Dozzell, Kurokawa; Servania (86 - Stroud), Peltola, Peglow; Munteanu, Hopkins (77’ - Kijima), Ordaz (90+2’ Markovic)

Unused Substitutes: Avilez, Bono, Castillo, Nealis, Turner

Head Coach: René Weiler

Los Angeles FC (4-3-3)

Lloris; Hollingshead, Porteous, Long (C), Cheberko; Choinière, Segura (77’ Terry), Delgado; Bouanga, Ebobisse (81’ - Boyd), Son

Unused Substitutes: Carter, Díaz, Kosakoff, Mihalić, Nielsen, Raposo

Head Coach: Marc Dos Santos

Scoring Summary

None

Booking Summary

None

D.C. United will travel to TQL Stadium to play Cincinnati FC at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. Cincinnati currently sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, six points ahead of D.C. United. Cincinnati lost to Nashville SC last week 4-0, which ended their four-game unbeaten streak in league play.

LAFC will travel to face Real Salt Lake on Saturday, September 5. The team continues their campaign for a playoff spot in a tight Western Conference. LAFC currently sits in 3rd place on 36 points, but only 10 points separate 2nd place (Houston Dynamo with 29 points) from 9th place (Minnesota United FC with 29 points).

Forward Nathan Ordaz made his first starting appearance for D.C. United and created four chances; he completed 89 minutes against his former club.