D.C. United's task on Tuesday night was to navigate the defensive lines that the Montreal Impact were going to construct at Audi Field — without the services of Wayne Rooney. United's captain was missing due to suspension, the first time that he had missed a game since his arrival in the nation's capital last July. Without him, United needed some standout performances from the entire squad to beat an Impact side that was likely coming to Buzzard Point looking for a draw.

United could never find their way past the Impact, though, settling for a drab scoreless draw in front of a crowd of over 18,000. The Black-and-Red ended the game with zero shots on goal, a testament to how they were unable to conjure up ideas or even opportunities to break down Montreal's defensive block. The visitors weren't able to create much either, but that was their game plan, and they did have the only shot on goal during the game.

Rooney is eligible to return this weekend when United travel to take on the Colorado Rapids. There, United will look to get back to their early season form, having not scored in either of the past two games, while picking up just one point. In the meantime, here are some of the talking points from last night's game.

United Wasn't Quick Enough With Possession

When a team is going to sit back and look to break out on the counter, finding space is a difficult proposition. Probing passes and spending time to build up possession in the attacking half aren't avenues to break down such a team, especially with a player like Wayne Rooney absent. Instead, when United had the ball, they needed to move quickly.

That means they needed to think quickly, move possession from one player to another quickly, anticipate runs and passes before the Impact, not spend time on the ball, taking time to find avenues through the Montreal defense. Not in a reckless way of course, but in a way that would allow United the ability to create chances. 

Zero goals and zero shots on goals were evidence that United just weren't quick enough on the night. 

"We just didn’t move the ball quick enough," Paul Arriola said after the game. 

That's partly a product of not having Rooney around, but United believe they have enough creative midfielders that chance creation shouldn't have been as big of an issue over the course of the game. United's passing map from the game tells that story. The green lines are the successful passes, the yellow lines are the successful key passes (passes that led to shots). The only two passes completed in the box came after the 86th minute. Not what United wanted at home.

United Missed Wayne Rooney In A Big Way

The Black-and-Red had been fortunate that until Tuesday night: They had their star player available for every game since his arrival. Rooney is one of the best players in the league, and he's capable of dragging a team that is not performing well on a given night to a win. Without Rooney, United were going to have to go about the game differently, compensating for the glaring absence of England's all-time leading scorer.

Ulises Segura was picked over Quincy Amarikwa up top, but neither could get the job done for United, as Amarikwa came on as a second-half substitute. That's not exactly unsurprising, but both are capable of producing a game-changing moment in any given game. But after the final whistle, head coach Ben Olsen admitted that D.C. missed Rooney's services.

"We could have used Wayne’s quality out there today for sure," said Olsen in his post-game press conference. 

Rooney will be back for the trip to Colorado, but United will still have to navigate more midweek games during this season, on short rest. It's likely that Rooney won't be able to start all the rest of the games, in which case United will need to find a way to create chances consistently when Rooney can only go 20 or 30 minutes in a substitute appearance.

Injuries Are Piling Up At The Outside Back Positions

Joseph Mora is already out with fractured jaw and concussion. Chris McCann left Tuesday night's game in the second half with a hamstring strain and will probably miss a couple of weeks. Leonardo Jara was subbed out late as well, having had his right shoulder pop out and back into place. There's a chance he might miss this weekend's trip to Colorado as well. That's three starting-caliber outside backs that could be absent this weekend.

Against Colorado, Olsen might have to get creative. If he sticks with his normal formation, Arriola, Jalen Robinson, or even rookie Akeem Ward could slot into the right back position. Arriola and Robinson have MLS experience there and would have no issues filling in there. Ward, selected in the first round of this year's MLS SuperDraft, doesn't have the experience yet; he has been playing games with Loudoun United. He was on the bench for D.C. for the first time on Tuesday night.

The problem is, those three are the likely candidates at left back as well. Arriola played there when McCann went out injured against Montreal, and then moved to right back when Robinson came on late. Ward is capable of playing there as well. Steven Birnbaum also has some limited experience playing as an outside back, but that came early in his career, and only in emergency cases. 

Olsen could opt to go with a three-man back line, inserting Robinson or Donovan Pines into the starting lineup. And then Arriola and Lucas Rodriguez could play as the wingbacks in that system. That option seems less likely, but it highlights the conundrum United are in right now due to the injury problems at left and right back.