Soccer is a simple sport: Score more goals than the other team, win your games at home, and pick up points when possible on the road. 

Piece of cake, right?

Fine, it may be just a bit more complicated in practice, but the aforementioned home and away policy is largely the recipe for success and the MLS is no exception. They could have lessened the burden by producing even a handful of better results away from the District, but D.C. United demonstrated the importance of securing maximum points at home over the second half of the 2018 season — a 12-2-1 record at Audi Field propelled their dramatic turnaround and eventual playoff birth.

It might be a stretch to call it one given the point in the season and where D.C. currently sit in the standings, but Sunday’s match against Sporting Kansas City is not too far removed from being a must-win game. A 3-1 triumph over the Columbus Crew on Saturday ended a three-match winless run at home, and a positive result again this weekend is vital considering what lies in the not-so-distant future.

Looking forward, the going gets tough with three consecutive away matches and well over 2,000 miles to travel. Head coach Ben Olsen is fully aware of the weight of Sunday’s matchup ahead of what will be a grueling middle of May.

“We have a very, very tough two weeks — a home game we have to try and take care of, then three tough away games,” Olsen told media during the week. “So this is going to be a tough stretch for us. It’s a good group and I think the mentality’s good. I like that we understand right now when we’re good, and it’s when everybody shows up.”

That spell includes a trip north of the border to face Toronto FC, who are nipping on the heels of the East’s best with two games in hand. Just three days later they take to the pressure cooker of Houston’s BBVA Compass Field, where the Dynamo are undefeated through six games in 2019 — five wins and a draw.

D.C. take a brief pause in league play for a marquee friendly against Spanish outfit Real Betis at Audi Field on Wednesday, May 22. A quick turnaround sees them travel north once again to face a club in complete disarray at the moment in the New England Revolution.

The chance to secure a valuable home win before embarking on the longest road trip to date comes against a team riddled with injuries. Meanwhile, early-season starlet Gianluca Busio is on international duty at the Under-17 Concacaf Championship. Picking up Benny Feilhaber will have given Peter Vermes’ men a significant boost, both in terms of personnel and a veteran presence in the locker room.

D.C. have been dealing from their own set of injury concerns and recently acquired Marquinhos Pedroso from FC Dallas for additional cover at left back. However, Leonardo Jara has been in blistering form since coming back into the fray and Russell Canouse returned to the lineup on Saturday after recovering from a minor knee issue. Chris Durkin will be away for the next several weeks following his call-up to the U.S. Under-20 team for the World Cup in Poland.

Two years of hard work leading up to *this* moment. The U-20 @FIFAWorldCup kicks off May 23 in ??. Roster » https://t.co/SwBSxpOdgn pic.twitter.com/IAaNEKLrie

— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) May 10, 2019

Road form has been a positive so far with 10 points taken from 15 possible, and a win on Sunday would go a long way in sending supporters home with the confidence that their side can extend an impressive start away from Buzzard Point against two of the league’s best.