In stark contrast to Tom Soehn's young United side, Saprissa fielded several World Cup veterans and could have won by an even greater margin, but will be unlikely to complain about securing an uncomplicated three points on the road thanks to goals from Walter Centeno just after the half-hour mark and Jairo Arrieta shortly after the start of the second half as the home side played a man down for the final 55 minutes.
With veterans Jaime Moreno and Ivan Guerrero unable to shake off injuries picked up over the weekend, United turned to two rookies as Craig Thompson manned the left wing and Ryan Cordeiro partnered Luciano Emilio, wearing the captain's armband, up top. Further back, Zach Wells earned a surprise start in goal for the home side, making his first appearance since Louis Crayton's signing.
The visitors started brightly as Saprissa frontrunner Alejandro Alpizar crept in behind Marc Burch to latch on to a chipped pass into the D.C penalty area in the fifth minute. But he mis-hit his first-timer well wide as Wells moved out to close down his angle.
Ten minutes in, Cordeiro's good work at the midfield stripe released Clyde Simms down the right flank, and his cross into the box fell invitingly to Thompson at the back post. But Thompson took too long to shoot and saw his curling bid deflected into the path of Emilio, who also found himself closed down when his first touch ran a bit heavy.
Quaranta gave the visitors another look at goal when he was dispossessed in midfield soon after, allowing a Saprissa counterattack that went for naught when Alpizar's long-range shot skimmed over Wells' crossbar and trickled along the roof of the net.
The Costa Ricans came even closer on their first corner kick of the match, as the set piece was played diagonally on the ground for Randall Porras to run up to and the defender put his foot through the ball, uncorking a scorching shot towards the far corner of the net that was spectacularly blocked by Wells, who dived headlong to his right to parry the effort wide.
A 25th-minute Saprissa free kick from the right touchline sparked momentary chaos in the United goalmouth as a gaggle of purple jerseys swarmed Wells to reach the inswinging delivery, only for the assistant referee's flag to pop up for offside.
Saprissa had enjoyed the better of play over the first half hour, and finally converted on to a canny play by the lively Alpizar in the 32nd minute. The 29-year-old Costa Rican received a pass just inside the 18-yard box and turned to face up Devon McTavish, who poked the ball away but was slow to take possession, allowing a prone Alpizar to stab a layoff back into the path of Centeno at the top of the box.
The longtime Costa Rican international picked out the far bottom corner of the goal with a well-placed finish that gave Wells little chance and sparked celebration among the expatriate Saprissa fans in attendance.
Matters soon moved from bad to worse for McTavish and his teammates, as the young center back was abruptly ejected on a curious sequence along the east touchline just three minutes after the goal.
First Quaranta drew the ire of Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez for a foul on Alexander Robinson, only for McTavish to fly in and clatter into Robinson again in clear view of the referee. McTavish quickly earned a red card, while his teammate was shown yellow to boot. A frustrated McTavish trudged off the field, leaving his already-besieged team to play a man down for the next hour as Saprissa rejoiced at another bit of good news.
A flustered-looking United struggled just to work the ball out of their own end as the Costa Ricans took a chokehold on possession, and Wells had to make another important block when Michael Barrantes broke clear and shot from short range.
Rodriguez's halftime whistle was a welcome sound for the beleaguered Black-and-Red, but another defensive mistake pushed the hosts into an even deeper hole barely seven minutes after the break. Burch was unable to clear a loose ball and Arrieta was quick to pounce, lashing a left-footer into the top corner from 20 yards out to push Saprissa's lead to 2-0.
The Costa Ricans were bubbling with confidence now and looked to have grabbed a third goal off a beautifully executed set piece that featured three quick passes to spring an easy finish at the far post, only for the offside flag erase the effort.
D.C. tried to make use of the letoff, looking to work second-half arrival Fred into the match with plenty of touches on the ball. The Brazilian's jinking run at the heart of the Saprissa defense earned a promising free kick 19 yards out, which allowed United to finally direct their first shot on goal with a sizzling Burch blast that drew an outstanding parry out of Saprissa netminder Keilor Navas.
But the forays forward were few and far between for the shorthanded home side, with Saprissa's buzzing pressure in midfield making life miserable for Simms, Quaranta and company as the visitors turned up the attacking flair, though the Costa Ricans relaxed approach caused them to waste several good chances to pad their goal differential.
Burch got forward in the 73rd minute, picking out Simms with a booming cross to the far post, but Navas was well-placed to glove the D.C. midfielders resulting header towards the short side.
Burch got another chance to test Navas in the 87th minute when second-half sub Francis Doe was elbowed to the turf some 25 yards out from goal, and United's left back let fly with another goalbound rocket only for Saprissa's No. 1 to produce another stunning fingertip save to preserve his shutout.
The match wound down quietly as Saprissa saw out the final minutes, content with a 2-0 road win that gives them an early edge in CCL Group A.
