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DCU meets Crew eyeing third successive win

Apr 18, 2014 - 8:17 PM Columbus, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - D.C. United will go for its third straight victory of the season on Saturday when the club hits the road to take on the Columbus Crew.

United has turned their season around with seven points from the last three games after starting the new campaign with back-to-back defeats.

Ben Olsen's team failed to score in each of its first two games, and after putting together the worst season in league history last year, it wasn't an encouraging start.

However, United has rebounded with a few gritty performances that have not been pretty, but effective.

A 2-0 victory over New England got United into the win column, and Davy Arnaud's scrappy goal in the fourth minute was enough for a 1-0 United win over Red Bull New York last weekend.

"We said that until we are clicking everywhere around the field and really have our identity of who we are, we've got to find a way to get points," said Olsen following the narrow win over New York. "And I think we did that tonight."

United is starting to have success despite the struggles of Designated Player Eddie Johnson, who was signed in the offseason from Seattle but who has yet to find the net in his first five games.

The Crew has had no such trouble in getting production from its star man, midfielder Federico Higuain, who has already scored four goals and assisted on two more for Columbus, accounting for six of the team's eight goals so far.

After winning its first three games to start the season, Columbus has earned one point from its last two games, a 1-1 draw at San Jose last weekend.

Higuain put the Crew ahead in the 44th minute, but the club gave away the equalizing goal from a set piece scored by Chris Wondolowski early in the second half.

A point at San Jose is a good result for the Crew despite the team having led in the match, and head coach Gregg Berhalter believes it is down to his team's mentality.

"We treat home and away the same way," Berhalter told reporters after the match. "We want to go out and play our game, we want to try to impose our game on the opponent, and it doesn't matter where we are."

Columbus will be at home against United on Saturday, where the club is 4-0-1 against Olsen's side in its last five home matches.

The Crew also will be attempting to duplicate the first match of the season between the two sides as Higuain scored twice and Jairo Arrieta added another in a 3-0 Columbus win at RFK Stadium.