Gabriel Pirani and DC United stun FC Cincinnati with a corner kick clinic | OneFootball

Gabriel Pirani may have earned man-of-the-match honors by scoring one goal and assisting another in D.C. United's 2-1 upset victory at FC Cincinnati on Saturday night.

But the real star is whoever is diagraming D.C.'s set pieces and breaking down opponents' defensive game tape.

Both D.C.'s first-half goals came from corner kicks. Not only corner kicks, but corners that were neither taken short nor driven directly into the box.

Instead, both involved finding the Brazilian Pirani near the top of the penalty area and letting the 23-year-old provide the defining touch with his right foot.

On the first goal, Pirani went for goal himself in just the second minute, curling a first-time finish that beat the diving Roman Celentano inside the left post.

On the second, he bent a perfect ball to the back post, where Conner Antley won the war of wills against his defender to head it home from close range.

Much-needed goal relief

D.C.'s set piece magic arrived at a critical time, halting a five-match winless run in league play (and six in all competitions).

Manager Troy Lesesne's squad had gone 495 minutes without an MLS goal before Pirani hit a sizzling stoppage-time equalizer in Wednesday night's 1-1 home draw against the New England Revolution.

And now they've won their first match of the season in which captain and leading scorer Christian Benteke doesn't play.

The powerful Belgian forward still leads D.C. with six MLS goals, but he hasn't played since May 14 as he continues to deal with an ankle injury.

Finally clicking for Pirani?

The Black-and-Red still desperately need some diversity in their attack, though maybe Pirani can provide it.

The academy product of Santos -- the famed Brazilian club that produced Pele, among others -- has not lived up to expectations so far in about two calendar years in MLS, with only nine goals and five assists in league play since he joined.

But after he's still at an age where perhaps things could be finally starting to click. For encouragement, he need look no further than the career of another South American who once played home games at Audi Field.

Luciano Acosta arrived in D.C. as a 21-year-old in 2016 with enormous potential. But the Boca Juniors product needed a couple of seasons -- and arguably some guidance from the newly arrived Wayne Rooney -- before he first showed the kind of production in 2018 that would eventually make him an MLS MVP five seasons later.