On the surface, it seemed near-impossible heading into last-weekend’s slate of MLS games that D.C. United would emerge without an opening-round home playoff match.



United, unbeaten in four, simply needed a win against lowly Cincinnati, a reasonable enough task given the fact that Cincy’s defense has been historically bad this year, easily setting Major League Soccer’s all-time mark for goals allowed in a single season. A United victory seemed even more certain toward the end of the first half when their opponents were shown a pair of red cards, leaving them with an even simpler task: score a single goal at home against a nine-man incarnation of one of the worst teams in MLS history.



D.C. — who were playing without a suspended Wayne Rooney — could not get it done. Its punchless offense only managed to steer three of its 32 shots on frame, just one of them putting Cincy in any real danger. The 0-0 result sends United on the road for an...