D.C. United blank Charlotte FC for third straight win

Christian Benteke scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season on a sensational bicycle kick and streaking D.C. United pulled away to a 3-0 victory over visiting Charlotte FC on Saturday night.

Taxiarchis Fountas also scored from the penalty spot for his second goal in as many games as D.C. (4-4-2, 14 points) won its third straight and its first at home since the opening weekend of the season.

Substitute Jacob Greene added his first MLS goal deep in second-half stoppage time as D.C. scored three for the second consecutive match.

It is the Black-and-Red's first three-game MLS winning streak contained within a single season since October 2020.

Tyler Miller required only one save to preserve his and D.C.'s third clean sheet of the season, with all of those shutouts coming in April.

Nathan Byrne had Charlotte's only effort on target in his team's second consecutive away defeat by multiple goals.

The visitors played without midfielder Kamil Jozwiak and center back Bill Tuiloma, who were both hurt during a midweek U.S. Open Cup win.

Charlotte (2-5-3, 9 points) had the better of the early stages but relatively few chances to show for it.

Karol Swiderski had one attempt from a promising position inside the box blocked in the 18th minute.

Four minutes later, Kerwin Vargas curled his attempt from outside the area just wide and high of the top right corner.

The visitors were punished for their lack of chance creation not long afterward when makeshift center back Derrick Jones tripped up Fountas inside the penalty area. Fountas hammered his shot into the bottom left corner beyond the dive of goalkeeper George Marks.

Benteke's stunner came in the 75th minute after a sequence where a D.C. player tried to head an early diagonal cross back across the goal area.

A Charlotte defender tried to head it clear but failed. Benteke used his body to create space, then with his back to the goal, launched his body skyward for his acrobatic overhead finish.