Atlantic Cup excitement returns to Audi Field as D.C. United faces off with its rival, the New York Red Bulls. This marks the 110th all-time meeting of the two teams. The Black-and-Red hold an advantage over the Red Bulls with a 47-42-20 record.
This past week has been a mixed bag for the Black-and-Red. In regular season play, they played to a scoreless draw on the road with Nashville SC before emerging triumphant over Charlotte FC in Wednesday’s Open Cup match. D.C. kept fans on the edge of their seats, finally claiming the win during a penalty kick shootout.
Tonight’s match with the Red Bulls offers the Black-and-Red a chance to get back to winning ways in regular season play and tie a bow on this season’s series with their rival with a decisive home win.
The Red Bulls also enter the match off a midweek Open Cup win against FC Dallas. They lost to NYCFC last weekend, 2-0. A win tonight could propel the visitors into a comfortable playoff spot. RBNY is hanging at 10th in the Eastern Conference standings, just outside of playoff contention.
D.C. United coach, Troy Lesesne, isn’t taking anything for granted tonight. “Both teams are going to be a little bit fatigued, but I think both teams are going to go after this match fully,” he said.
The Black-and-Red will need to lean into home support tonight to overcome the week’s fatigue and close out the series with the Red Bulls strong.
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: João Peglow
With star striker Christian Benteke still out due to an ankle injury, it’s up to Peglow to continue being the difference maker for the Black-and-Red. The last time D.C. met the Red Bulls, Peglow recorded a brace to push for a dramatic win on the road.
Watch Out For: Cameron Harper
Red Bulls midfielder Cameron Harper has taken it to D.C. United’s backline with three goals and a total of five goal contributions across the eight matches he’s played against D.C. United. The Black-and-Red will also need to keep an eye on Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Emil Forsberg. The duo has been on fire with their goal contributions for the Red Bulls so far this season.
Challenges: Christian Benteke, who has been central to D.C. United’s attack, is out with an injury. While so much of the Black-and-Red’s season momentum has been due to his contributions on the pitch, Troy Lesesne will need to forge a way forward tonight without the captain.
Previously: D.C. United claimed victory over New York Red Bulls on the road, 2-1, back in April.
D.C. United Availability:
Out: Dominique Badji (thigh), Christian Benteke (ankle), Lukas McNaughton (thigh)
Questionable: Randall Leal (knee)
New York Red Bulls Availability:
Out: Roald Mitchell (knee), Dylan Nealis (hamstring)
Questionable: Felipe Carballo (abdominal), Marcelo Morales (thigh), Lewis Morgan (knee), Serge Ngoma (thigh)
Location: Audi Field, Washington, DC
Kickoff time: 7:30 pm ET
Referee: Malik Badawi
Available streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Thanks, Sarah. I’ll be at Buzzard Point in person, but always interested in reviewing streaming watchers’ comments after the match.
Some say that Jacob Murrell will be the difference maker tonight.
We shall see! He’s been great. With Benteke out I feel like a standout performance that changes the game can come from anyone.
For the record, it is my bartender who thinks that Jacob Murrell will be the difference maker tonight. So maybe I don’t really know.
Have a great time!!!
Starting XI: Barraza, Rowles, Bartlett, Tubbs, Herrera, Servania, Enow, Schnegg, Kijima, Murrell, Peglow
Bench: Joon, Peltola, Stroud, Pirani, Antley, Dodson, Hopkins, Fletcher, Zouhir
Old Glory DC holds on in a tough fought match to win the Red, White, and Blue Bowl with New England Free Jacks 20-17. Old Glory gets 4 pts for the victory, but the Free Jacks get 1 bonus point for losing by less than 7. New England is still in 1st by 2 standings points. New England and Old Glory have both clinched playoff berths are now battling for 1st and home field advantage. This also marks the 4th straight win for Old Glory extending their franchise best win streak and the first time they’ve swept the regular season series against New England since both teams came into the league in 2020.
Barraza saves our bacon on a break away for the Red Bulls.
And if there’s a DP I’m surprised didn’t have the composure in that moment, it’s Forsberg
Eddie Murphy in dragon form to Forsberg: You missed! How did you miss, he was three feet from you?!
Thank goodness, though
Well, if there’s Redbulls want to continue to fuck up, I’m down
Chupo-Moting nearly dials it in from the left foot cutback. We’ve dodged some bullets, but time to start shooting back ourselves
Well, both sides can utterly fail to unwrap gifts, it seems.
Murrell gets a great opportunity, but it gets caught in his feet and he can only put it right at the keeper.
It came to him unexpectedly, but an instinctive striker knows how to unwrap that gift in terms of positioning yourself for the shot in less than a second. He didn’t accomplish the physicality aspect, ended up with a poor shot.
Not sure I’d say “unexpectedly,” but Kijima’s pass was deflected so Murrell’s stride was off, But, he needed to slow it down, and get better contact.
Murrell’s not gonna get a more clear chance than that. Oof
Interesting observation from tonight: Murrel looks a lot like Chris Pontius. Like physically, not playstyle
Yeah, I noticed a potential Pontius like glow up approximation during the open cup game
I had this dialogue with Jason a month or two ago. Is he Pontius, or Mullins?
Despite being lucky on some chances Redbull couldn’t convert, I am relieved that Lesesne has adopted a midblock from which to press more judiciously. The all press all the time was dumb, and this is keeping us in games.
Troy’s getting my support back in him individually as a coach, and though playoffs with this squad still seem unlikely, pretty much ok with a continued rebuild project with Lesesne and Mackay next season.
I still feel kind of skeptical about their ability to bring in true impact players. Their biggest swings have basically been Peltola, Enow, Schnegg, Joon, and maybe Pirani if you want to count making his loan deal permanent. Schnegg has looked okay, it’s still pretty early for Joon, but really none of them seem great.
Also, I totally forgot about Rowles and Peglow because, well, they’re pretty forgettable.
Peglow has been absolutely lock down defensively off the ball. I had no evidence when we signed him he would be a good signing, but the hunch that he would be be worthy looks good in hindsight right now.
Not sure Schnegg is going to look as good when we get back to a normal 4 man defense. The lack of recovery speed is… disturbing.
In fairness, it may be that we’re dedicated to wingbacks now. Anything to get Pirani out of a pivotal role, seems like
Schnegg goes into the book with a yellow. Thankfully he dropped off the yellow card accumulation warning list.
Bartlett puts his header off the corner right at Coronell for an easy save…
Tubbs….with a bad pass and it leads directly to a goal by Harper.
Brain dead Tubbs pass leads to a turnover and, eventually, a goal
A real shame that Tubbs did that, the rest of the defense could not possibly have imagined he would just pass directly into a mild press. One of the few times our shape has been bad.
The Tubbs giveaway turns out to be the key play of the game, because the best DCU could hope for was a scoreless draw.
The New York Stroud goes into the book for pulling Servania down.
“Mostly harmless.”
Maybe the answer in front of goal will come in the 47th minute? 😉
Whoops, meant 42, my memory/math suck. Moving on
It was on point enough. The math was always bad, lol.
My approval of Hopkins getting more minutes centrally is inversely proportionate to my dread of having Peltola in the backline. He’s not good at it.
We’re spending so much time without the ball tonight, my only question is how many more goals are we giving up? We can’t seem to do much of anything past midfield tonight.
Seems like with the subs, the main goal is to avoid red zone injuries through minutes
Stroud for Kijima and Fletcher for Murrell
In fairness, 63rd minute, and can’t blame the game state on something Enow did. He’s maybe showing some return for the (frankly absurd) level of faith shown in him through some bad performances.
It’s a low, low bar to clear, but I’m pretty confident this is Enow’s best performance in our colors.
Or what Talonesque said.
I liked the idea of Hopkins getting minutes, not as big a fan of him pulling a groin 15 minutes in
Apparently, we need just about every central player to be unavailable for Pirani to see the field. This rebuild might well measure time in BP and AP (before and after Pirani).
Watch NY get this PK cause that’s the way things are going tonight.
So what have we learned from this loss?
Haven’t totally ruled out a draw, crazier things have happened. If it is a loss, I think the lessen is “buy out the f-ing DP that you’re not gonna use so you can give Benteke some f-ing help.” But that’s a lessen for our Monopoly money owners
That if you play a high energy, high press team then you need press resistant players and the only two we have available tonight are Herrera, Peglow, and, arguably, Pirani. This roster is also seriously lacking in athleticism
I’d also say it’s harder to press if you’re facing players with attacking potency you really should back track for. Redbulls had no fear of our offense, made the pressure possible
Seriously lacking in athleticism. Seriously lacking in speed, Seriously lacking in ball skills, and seriously lacking in any passing touch. Also, seriously lacking in ideas.
Stroud could not have nerfed that header much more.
Peglow with a fantastic touch to keep on the run, both Fletcher and Stroud fail to make the correct run for the cutback
Redbulls could convert their breaks tonight with the talent they had, we couldn’t with the talent we’ve accrued.
2-0, game over
I think Bogauc was offside but it doesn’t matter.
On the header, quite possibly.
He absolutely was.
If he was offside, why wasn’t it called back?
It’s really depressing to go to games and see the players struggle so badly because they’re slower than the other team, and unable to dribble or pass through the other defense.
DC United is reporting that 6182 hot dogs were sold at Audi Field vs. NJRB, and that’s a new Audi Field record for hot dogs sold! H/T Tom Bogert
The last time that I was at Audi Field, there were no heart-healthy food options. Does anybody know if that has changed?
You can get cole slaw at Roaming Rooster truck. On Saturday, I had the fried chicken salad with cole slaw. It was very tasty.Carb friendly if not 100% heart friendly. The pupusas are probably reasonable, esepecially if you’re willing to wait for a bean and cheese variety.
Thanks for the input. Really, I’m not worried about myself, I’m not at high risk for a heart attack. But there are people among us who are at very high risk of a heart attack (which is the #1 killer in the USA, IIRC).
Lesesne has done some things right. The team does not give up. He switched tactics and we are no longer getting beat with the constant high press. He switched goalkeepers and the new one is playing really well.
Having said that, I am still thinking that he should go. His lineup was not great. He should play Peltola more and put him in a spot in which he can make a difference. He is very savvy tactically, positions well, and is a great passer out of the back. Do we really need an ineffective one striker formation when Murell is clearly unfit for the single striker job. He loves Peglo and he does some things well. But there are times he disappears from games and his interplay with others is not great. The two center midfielders generally are below MLS quality.
I am still off the Lesesne bandwagon and am hoping for a midseason switch to get a more experienced coach and coaching staff pulling the strings.
It would be great to get Jim Curtain and back him up to create a way forward. I am not optimistic it will happen.
I don’t agree with any of this. He’s not the turnover machine Enow is, but he’s not far off. I haven’t seen tactical savvy either.
Lesesne was hired because he’s no threat to the GM. Mackay doesn’t have the status to feel secure in his job, so he hires a coach with even less stature.I”ve always been impressed with Curtin, but have to say that the turnaround in Philly without him doesn’t speak well for him.
Some of the comments to be found @TomBogert are not complimentary about the record-breaking hot dog sales at Audi Field.
Even more comments about hot dog sales @DCUnited on the twitter machine.