I'll be up-front with this one: as much as I like having this series - I was a history major in college, and I instinctively look back in time to go forward - there's not going to be much value to take out of the video above. There are two, maybe three guys Toronto FC started in that game who are likely to start, and a grand total of zero D.C. United players who started at BMO Field last September and are likely to go this Saturday. We can only hope the result will be as different as the lineups.
It started well enough. Even with a defense that included Sainey Nyassi and first-time MLS starter Michael Seaton in the XI, United fashioned some chances early. In fact, it was the two of them that garnered one of the first highlights of the game as Seaton played Nyassi into space at the top of the box, and the Gambian forced a save from Joe Bendik. But it was Jared Jeffrey's wicked 30-yard left-footed blast that opened the scoring. From that point on, though, the mostly reserve lineup that Ben Olsen ran out just three days before United's appearance in the US Open Cup final looked like a mostly reserve lineup for the worst team in the league. And I don't really want to talk about that.
The good news is that there will be eleven new starters for Ben Olsen come this Saturday. The bad news is that new faces for the Reds will include Jermaine Defoe and Michael Bradley. Should be interesting.