Steve Clark’s Saturday fell into place as if it had been preconceived. On his 32nd birthday, in his first start of the season, with 16 friends and family in attendance — including his 89-year-old grandmother — against his former club, with his winless team down a man for 40 minutes, D.C. United’s second-choice goalkeeper made two sensational saves in the second half of a 1-0 victory over the Columbus Crew in Annapolis.

As teammate Paul Arriola said, “All the stars aligned for him.”

Clark had lost the preseason battle with David Ousted for the starting job, but when Ousted injured his foot in training last week, United turned elsewhere.

“It was just a really special weekend,” he said — one that began with his wife making a video celebrating his 10 years as a professional.

“She almost killed me” with emotion, Clark said. “I had to go compose myself for a couple hours: lie in bed, put some earphones in, meditate and go play.”

He received first-half help from the crossbar, which denied Pedro Santos’s blistering effort. After intermission, with United undermanned after Arriola’s red card, he flashed to his left to stop Santos’s snap header from six yards and reached back to slap aside Gyasi Zardes’s close-range header.

“He saves the team,” Arriola said, “and he saves me.”

The result ended United’s five-game rut to start the season and nine-match skid dating from last fall. It also marked Clark’s return to the lineup after he started the last five games in 2017.

With Bill Hamid off to Denmark, Clark was atop the depth chart until United traded for Ousted during the winter.

Both are proven pros. Clark was Columbus’s starter from 2014 to 2016 before signing in Denmark, then returning to MLS last summer. Ousted, a Dane who turned 33 in February, was Vancouver’s first choice from the summer of 2013 until late last year.

With United off this weekend, Olsen has until April 28 against Philadelphia to decide whether to stay with Clark or turn back to Ousted.

“It’s a hard thing to evaluate because they are both really good,” Olsen said. “They are both starting goalkeepers in the league. We always figured we were going to face this. We always also knew that would be a pretty good problem to have. … I have a tough decision to make.”

Clark has the bigger personality, as he demonstrated during the match with vocal commands and afterward with an arm-waving, howling celebration. After an initial embrace of teammates, he made his way toward the main stands at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and engaged with happy supporters.

“Look, you’ve got to seize the moment,” he said of the interaction. “These guys, they appreciate what I do and I appreciate them. I like to play to the fans. We want to have fun. We want to entertain. We want to play attacking soccer. When you beat your former team on your birthday and the crowd is going crazy, I’m going to play to them. It was a fun time.”

As for the competition with Ousted, Clark said: “I believe in what I’m doing. I’ve won a lot of games in this league. I am a leader in the locker room and I am also a match-winning goalkeeper. The coach picks the team. I just continue to do my best and win training games, win games and see what happens.”

United notes: Olsen has not ruled out roster moves before the May 1 transfer and trade deadline. “It’s tight, but things can happen quick,” he said. “We’re still looking.” The window will reopen July 10. …

Arriola, on his red card, which was assessed after video replay was used: “Initially, I don’t think it’s red. When you slow [the video] down, it looks horrible. I didn’t go in with that intention.

“I asked the referee afterward what the red was specifically for. He said it was because I got [Artur’s] Achilles’ with the studs. He got up right away. It looked like a hard challenge. If it had been a real hard challenge with real aggression, he would’ve been on the floor for a lot longer. I have to learn from it and not make those kinds of plays.”

It was Arriola’s first red card in 134 pro matches and about 30 U.S. youth and senior national team games. …

The May 29 match at Los Angeles FC might move to May 26, a Saturday. Originally, the game had been scheduled for May 28 but bumped because Mexico’s national team added a friendly on that day at the Rose Bowl. …

On Friday, United is scheduled to visit the University of Maryland for a friendly against the second-division Richmond Kickers and possibly a scrimmage with the Terrapins. The games are closed to the public.

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