D.C. United vs. New York City FC: Preview, time, and how to watch
D.C. United is on the rise. After two statement wins on the road, the Black-and-Red return home to Audi Field having clawed their way into the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Tonight, D.C. faces Nick Cushing’s 5th place New York City FC. Winless in six, NYCFC will be out for points tonight to cement their place in the playoffs and close in on the New York Red Bulls.
Heading into tonight’s match, D.C. head coach Troy Lesesne has much to be happy about. The Black-and-Red have won four of their last five matches, and star striker Christian Benteke now leads the Golden Boot race with 18 goals and has inked a fresh contract with the team.
The Black-and-Red will hope to keep their momentum as they celebrate Noche Latina tonight and pay homage to the club’s Hispanic roots, including legendary D.C. United players Jaime Moreno, Marco Etcheverry, and Raul Diaz Arce.
We can expect to see the Boys in Blue attempt a repeat of their April performance, where they limit service to Benteke in order to thwart D.C.’s attack. Hopefully, Lesesne and the Black-and-Red have a few tricks up their sleeve to stymie NYCFC’s efforts.
Hear everything head coach Troy Lesesne had to say at the pre-game press conference here.
Let us know your thoughts about tonight’s match in the comments below and be sure to join us live here during the game to chat with your fellow supporters.
Key Player: Christian Benteke
The veteran striker leads the league in goals, having recorded 18 this 2024 season. Benteke tops the chart ahead of Chicho Arango (RSL), Denis Bouanga (LAFC), Luis Suárez (Inter Miami), Daniel Gazdag (Philadelphia Union), and Petar Musa (FC Dallas). The 2024 MLS regular season has established Benteke as an unstoppable force, and we don’t anticipate that changing any time soon.
Watch Out For: Alonso Martínez
NYCFC leading goal scorer with 11 this season, Martínez could give D.C. United a fair bit of trouble tonight. The Costa Rican is strong both in and out of possession and has contributed to City’s ability to ramp up their intensity in the press. He’s not alone – Jovan Mijatović and Mounsef Bakrar are both notable contributors to NYCFC’s attack. Look for Cushing to use them as impact substitutes.
Challenges: The Black-and-Red will have to keep the forward momentum going through the remaining weeks of the 2024 regular season to clinch a crucial playoff spot.
Previously: D.C. United lost 2-0 back in April to NYCFC at Yankee Stadium. Their all-time regular season record against City is 7-11-3.
D.C. United Availability:
Out: Matai Akinmboni (ankle), Conner Antley (knee), Jackson Hopkins (ankle), David Schnegg (leg)
Disciplinary: Mateusz Klich
NYCFC Availability:
Out: Malachi Jones (leg)
Disciplinary: Julian Fernandez
Location: Audi Field, Washington, DC
Kickoff time: 7:30 pm ET
Referee: Ramy Touchan
Available streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
If anyone is interested as expected the US Men’s National Team Rugby XVs (The Eagles) got stomped by Fiji this morning 22-3 in The Pacific Nations Cup Semifinal Round. They will face the loser of tomorrow’s Japan vs Samoa match in the 3rd place game.
I’m pre-mourning Everton’s season already. Have lost all four games, the last two games they conceded 3 goals after leading by 2. This. Is. Hell.
Anyway, United would never let me down at home! 🙂😅😭
I think we probably go with the same formation this week with Herrera coming in for Tubbs and Peltola pushing Rodriguez up to Klichs usual spot. I could see Enow replacing Pirani as well but if Pirani is fully recovered from last game then I’d rather he start since he’s been hot lately.
No one told this ref where to be in play, he’s in the way consistently
Yeah, this ref is a loose cannon and not very good at this
I wonder if we’ll get a yellow if we equalize?
Wishew, we got away with it.
1-1, very nice pickup and finish by Pirani
Um, no way
We just got screwed….McVey was onside…O’Toole kept him on…I call bullshit
McVey adjudged to have made a pick, but he knew he was offside, he got out of the way of the attacker, defender runs into him.
In short, Bullshit
Maybe the pick is illegal…but I don’t buy the offside. It’s arguable that he was in an offside position when Herrera played it to Pirani — hard to say whose foot is deeper, McVey or the defender. But, he wasn’t affecting the play then.
When he does join the play to make the pick, I’m 99% sure he was onside. It shouldn’t matter where he was when Herrera hit it. It only matters where he was when Pirani was dribbling past him, when he decides to make the screen — I think he’s behind the ball, but he’s definitely behind the last defender.
The hell…that should’ve been advantage…
7 mins of stoppage.
The officiating crew is citing this as being “too much fun for them to stop”
These refs, both in and out of the booth, are just atrocious
I miss the replacement refs
The dude clearly doesn’t even understand where to be in the field to allow play to flow around him. He’s not just a joke, but a physical obstacle
Brutally incompetent referring. Parks in no way would have been able to make a play on the ball. If it takes this long it’s not clear and obvious. Soft yellows on Benteke and Bartlett were given. Zero consistency shown as referee allows the most yellow card worthy foul of the game by Tanasijevic to slide. About the only call the referee has gotten right is the penalty.
A good sign of growth for this DC side will be to rise above the inconsistency of the referee, not succumb to frustration or emotion. Shore up the defensive issue they’ve had by a substitution or change of style (in terms of how they defend the left side of the field) and go earn a point or all three points. Then use whatever internal mechanism MLS might afford to make sure this ref is on the sidelines and not a center ref. for the foreseeable future.
I agree completely with these comments. The soft yellows to Benteke and Bartlett were incomprehensible.
Benteke is getting yellow cards regularly, effectively for being a lot taller than the defenders. He can’t really help the contact with players’ heads when they’re at chest/arm level. But worse than that was the non-call a minute earlier. Benteke was wrestled to the ground from behind, and the referee just whistled a foul. No card. In that situation, the “professional foul” is a given for a yellow card. The NYCFC player probably expected a card.
Benteke repeatedly spoke to the ref to question that non-call and compare it to cards that were handed out to DCU players.
I’m dizzy with cognitive dissonance between what I’m seeing on the field and what is being called
Loudoun is in a dog fight with Birmingham. They’ve gone down by a goal twice now and they’ve just taken the lead 3-2 in the 78′.
Setting aside the referring, Lesene has some work to do sorting out things defensively. To easy for NYCFC to play down DCs left flank. NYCFC were the better side up until the penalty.
After that the disallowed goal, the generally choppy nature of the game makes the rest of the first half hard to judge. Stats speak to that, NYCFC’s xG-PEN is comparable to DCs (note DC didn’t have a great offensive half and those stats don’t include the disallowed goal). Hardly a dominate half for NYCFC, but they were nonetheless the better side.
DC will need to find another gear. Really wish Schnegg was available. Maybe a switch to four in the back, bring on Canouse in midfield, move Dajome to LB, pull Santos and play with a midfield three of Canouse, Enow and Rodriguez?
Well KDP on for Dajome.
DCU lucky to not have given up a goal just now.
Loudoun now up 4-2 in the 90′.
If that’s a red…then I don’t know what is…
Santos shown a yellow for dissent.
Ok yellow for the foul by Santos.
…what was that cross Santos?
That has to be a penalty and a yellow!
That’s a super pk that they all missed
Maybe VAR wants redemption
Two footed, sloppy challenge from Sands. This had better be a penalty. Sands is on a yellow too, lucky that wasn’t caught live or he would likely have been sent off.
You can give a yellow on review, they just can’t do it specifically for that
Benteke buries the PK!
Benteke scores arguably the hardest PK technique to get right
1-1, or 2-2 if you count bad disallowed goals
Missed the first half. Ref has been fine this half at least.
I love how much Pirani has improved recently. Night and day from what we saw at the beginning of the season.
Had an excellent finish earlier, VAR was very weird on the play
According to the Spanish commentator, it was called back die to a short pull by McVey.
They adjudged McVey, I know, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t weird and unnecessary
Not a shirt pull. Called him offside. The referee said so when announcing the decision.
Rodriguez for Peltola, Badji for Stroud.
Badji on for Stroud, Peltola on for Rodriguez, both of whom have really toiled today
Badji shown a deserved yellow for that foul.
CANOUSE! is subbing in for Enow. Murrell for Pirani.
From the eternal bench, he Russell’s!!
How is that a foul on Badji?
NY is holding their faces, the ref likes this
Another 7 mins of stoppage.
Hey, Murrell. What is it you do??? Successfully?
I’m just livid he can’t finish a header. Like, you do nothing else great, you can’t finish headeRs!? Drop him ASAP, he’s not a pro
I won’t argue that he could be better, but he’s also a 20 year old rookie they got as a sophomore out of college. I think there’s still time for him to come into his own
As what?
I belive when he was first drafted, the idea was that he played as a target forward, similar to Benteke. There haven’t been a ton of times he’s actually been played in that position though, as he seems to get thrown in as a CAM or winger more often
Interesting. A target forward that flubs good headed chances.
Sorry, I’m just furious, his headers suck
Take a look at the match video and you will see both Benteke and Badji both had weak headers in the 2nd half that were easily saved, so should we release Benteke? Murrell’s header was the best chance of scoring out of the three. Benteke also said earlier this season that his soccer knowledge was way ahead of his age, that he made the right runs in the box that put him in the right spots. He also had an outstanding career at Georgetown and the Annapolis Blues as an 18 and 19 year old player, so I am looking forward to him having a long, successful career at DC United until a European club buys him.
Wow…where’s the VAR on that last play?
No joke… 😭
https://mobile.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/SportsArchive/Kotoko-DC-United-game-in-limbo-as-US-Embassy-denies-26-individuals-visas-Reports-1950525
Wow! I’m assuming this is about young muslim males who don’t have direct family in the US or a Green Card. So visas just routinely get held up in those instances. It’s been that way since 9-11.