Revolution 2, D.C. United 1: Fagundez, Wright power Revs to U.S. Open Cup win

The Revolution entered Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup match with three active goalkeepers and just 14 active field players. But that roster configuration didn’t shake the home side, as the Revs used goals from Diego Fagundez and Brian Wright to take down D.C. United, 2-1.

Before many Revolution fans found their seat, Teal Bunbury got things started offensively by clanking a broken corner off the far post. D.C. immediately took advantage of the missed opportunity, using strong hold-up play from Julian Buscher to grab an early lead. In the 7th minute, Buscher danced along the Revolution touchline, maintained possession and fed Ian Harkes with a pass out wide. Harkes whipped a cross into the box and onto the head of a diving Jose Guillermo Ortiz, who buried his shot past Brad Knighton.

For the ensuing 30 minutes, the Revolution out-possessed D.C. United but struggled to connect on a final pass. Poor service spoiled positive runs on multiple occasions. Still, the Revs looked lively moving forward, with Fagundez consistently driving the attack.

In the 44th minute, Fagundez made good on his energetic start by curling a free kick past Travis Worra from 22 yards out. Wright drew the foul that led to the set piece, and Fagundez made it count with a blistering strike.

The Revolution remained on the front foot for the final minute of play but ultimately went into the locker room in a 1-1 deadlock.

At the onset of the second half, Wright took over for the Revolution, stringing together an impressive five-minute stretch. He hit a promising chance off the post shortly into the second frame, but—undeterred by the missed opportunity—responded by scoring his first professional goal. With his eyes set on a lofting through ball, Wright bodied up his defender, turned toward goal and slotted a shot past Worra to give the Revs a 2-1 advantage.

Moments later, Wright narrowly missed a second goal, pushing an open shot just wide.

Play opened up thereafter, as United started to string attacking passes together in search of a second-half equalizer. The Revolution defense held tight, however, with London Woodberry and Je-Vaughn Watson deterring several key opportunities.

D.C. nearly scored in the 80th minute during a chaotic passage of play that ended with a shot off the crossbar, though the Revs refused to break, eventually clearing the shot to safety.

In the end, the Revolution stood tall, doing just enough to claim a 2-1, come-from-behind win. The team will now host a quarterfinal match at a location to be determined.

Update: In the quarterfinals, the Revolution will host the New York Red Bulls at Harvard University’s Jordan Field. The match will take place on July 13 and kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET.