WASHINGTON — Paul Arriola scored two goals on Saturday night and D.C. United celebrated the opening of Audi Field with a 3-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps.
United (3-7-5) also showed off their summer signing by debuting Wayne Rooney, who entered as a substitute in the 58th minute. The English star assisted on Arriola's second goal, a deep blast that made it 3-0 in the 80th minute.
Alphonso Davies, the Whitecaps' 17-year-old MLS all-star, broke up David Ousted's shutout a minute from the final whistle with a rocket from the right corner of the area for Vancouver (7-8-5).
"It was a wonderful strike from the young boy," Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson said. "He kept going, the team kept going and that's a credit to them as well, but we need to tidy up on areas of individual defending."
The Whitecaps are tied for seventh in the Western Conference, two points back of the L.A. Galaxy for the sixth and final playoff spot.
Yamil Asad scored the stadium's historic opener in the 27th minute with a right-footed bender from the top of the penalty arc to finish a square pass from Zoltan Stieber.
Arriola doubled the lead in the 69th minute with a two-touch finish from 10 yards out.
"We had a couple of chances to get back into it. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take them," Robinson said.
The Whitecaps return to action on Wednesday for the first leg of a Canadian Championship semifinal against the host Montreal Impact.
The Associated Press
