Despite gaining a man advantage in the 79th minute, a two-man edge deep into stoppage time and a remarkable 11 bonus minutes overall before the final whistle, United fell short, 2-1, before 18,028 at RFK Stadium.

After Cyle Larin and Giles Barnes scored nine minutes apart in the first half, United didn’t find the net until Kofi Opare’s goal in the 89th minute. The late bedlam — two Orlando red cards and delays for injuries and a scuffle — wasn’t enough time to cap the comeback.

“It’s been a reoccurring theme,” Olsen said. “I’ve sat up here [in the postgame news conference] week after week all year and said the final stuff has not been there. We need to be able to — I need to be able to — have the team score more than one goal at home. We need to put a few in. The looks are there. The quality is there.”

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United (8-16-4) has scored two goals at RFK once since April. In 15 home dates, D.C. has posted 11 goals and been blanked seven times.

After Servando Carrasco’s red, Opare’s goal and Seb Hines’s dismissal, United attacked with desperation and fury before coming up empty. At one point, goalkeeper Bill Hamid was at midfield pumping balls into the box.

“I thought something was going to happen,” captain Steve Birnbaum said. “I thought we were going to get one late one and scrap away with a point. It’s tough not to get there because the chances were out there.”

With one exception, Olsen stuck with the same core group. Birnbaum returned from a concussion after missing two matches and replaced Jalen Robinson, who had performed admirably paired with Opare.

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Amid fading playoff fortunes, Orlando Coach Jason Kreis benched Brazilian superstar Kaka, MLS’s highest-paid player at $7.1 million. (He entered in the 77th minute.)

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A two-week break did not slow United, which was snappy and assertive at the start. Par for the season, though, there was nothing to show for it. Joe Bendik made a reflex save on Patrick Mullins’s rasping one-timer, and Birnbaum missed a clear header from six yards.

Orlando (9-12-7) was more efficient. In the 19th minute, Larin ducked into Opare’s blind spot at the edge of the six-yard box and volleyed in Dom Dwyer’s cross for his 11th goal of the campaign, ending Hamid’s shutout streak at 315 minutes.

Nine minutes later, Opare won a header against Larin on Scott Sutter’s cross. On the back side, United’s Sean Franklin failed to control the ball, which caromed off his right knee and fell to Barnes for an easy finish from eight yards.

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Comeback chances? Slim. United hasn’t scored multiple goals since mid-July at Seattle or overcome a halftime deficit to win or draw this season.

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Mullins squandered a breakaway in the 62nd minute, firing high and wide from the right side. He still hasn’t scored in 14 appearances this season.

“We made a few mistakes and they capitalized,” Olsen said. “We had a few very good looks that we could’ve capitalized on.”

With Orlando shorthanded, United stirred. A breakthrough finally arrived in the 89th minute when Marcelo Sarvas’s ball into the box took a deflection or two. Opare slid a seven-yard shot past Bendik for this second goal of the season.

Referee David Gantar initially set six minutes of stoppage time, but an Orlando injury and Hines’s takedown of Lloyd Sam extended the match into the night.

“The second half was pretty gutsy from us,” Olsen said. “We maybe earned a little bit more — or should’ve earned a little bit more — out of that game.”