The New York Red Bulls defeated Atlantic Cup rivals D.C. United, 4-1, on Wednesday night at Audi Field.
Goals from Eias Manoel, Cameron Harper, Lewis Morgan, and Cory Burke helped New York secure the three points. Harper, Manoel, and Morgan have all scored goals in back-to-back matches.
The Red Bulls currently sit in third place in the Eastern Conference with 23 points.
“Yeah, it was a mix of some situations. First, it's a short week and we needed some fresh legs, and it was a tactical decision for us. But most importantly, you need to have fresh legs with some players, and this was the decision at the training session on Sunday,” said Head Coach Sandro Schwarz. “What I mentioned at the press conference, that's where we were and for me, it's the same logic that our roster had this quality. We need all the players. I have mentioned this all the time and it’s good to see that all players are in a good spot.”
New York opened up the scoring, when midfielder Frankie Amaya launched a pass to in behind D.C. United’s backline and forward Elias Manoel ran onto to it and chipped the goalkeeper from 30-yards out.
Manoel scored his third MLS goal of the season and the eighth of his MLS career. The Brazilian became the first Red Bulls player to record a goal and an assist in consecutive matches since 2018.
The Red Bulls doubled their lead when Manoel played Captain Emil Forsberg in the middle of the field and he played midfielder Cameron Harper in on goal, who cut the ball back onto his left-foot and placed the ball in the bottom corner.
Harper scored his second goal of the season and has now scored six career MLS goals, including two-career goals against D.C. United.
“I think taking the lead out for halftime helped us a lot, you know. They had to come out and be a little bit more aggressive in the second half, “Harper said. “We did a really good with the first ball and it was pretty difficult the second half, but because they were chasing the game a little bit more, it allowed us to kind of have more space in behind. So, we took advantage of that really well, actually.”
New York grabbed a 3-0 lead when Harper was one-on-one with the D.C. United goalkeeper and attempted to dribble past him, but he was stopped and the ball went in the path of Lewis Morgan, who tapped in the rebound.
Morgan scored his ninth MLS goal of the season, which ranks fifth in MLS, and has now 13 goal contributions in the first 13 matches of the year. He tied Mike Magee for ninth place in franchise history for most goals scored by a Red Bulls player with 23.
The Red Bulls would give away a goal before making the score, 4-1, in the third minute of second half stoppage time, when forward Dante Vanzeir and midfielder Frankie Amaya connected on a pass before Amaya played the ball in the path of forward Cory Burke, who’s left-footed shot found the bottom right-hand corner of D.C. United’s net.
Burke scored his first goal of the season and his first since May 20, 2023 against CF Montreal. Amaya recorded his fourth-career MLS multi-assist match and now has three assists on the year, while Vanzeir tallied his team-leading seventh assist of the season and is currently ranked tied for fifth in MLS in assists.
New York extended their unbeaten streak to seven matches across all competitions against D.C. United and became the ninth team in MLS history to record nine goals in consecutive road matches against a single club.
The Red Bulls will conclude a two-match road trip on Saturday, May 18 at Citi Field for the first New York Derby of the 2024 season against New York City FC. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV in English and Spanish and New York Red Bulls Radio in English via TuneIn, the New York Red Bulls app and NewYorkRedBulls.com.
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Bandana giveaway for dogs entering through Gate C1.
