Following a dominant 4-1 display against St. Louis, Red Bull New York failed to keep their momentum with a 2-1 loss to DC United.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting would extend his scoring streak, but it would not be enough to secure points. The loss leaves New York in eighth place in the Eastern Conference on 36 points, but with only five matches to go, the gap between seventh and 13th is only six points.
Things went wrong for Red Bull quickly in the game against DC; it took just four minutes for 17-year-old midfielder Adri Mehmeti to take down DC striker Tai Baribo in the box after there was a scramble for the ball after a miscleared cross. Baribo would step up to take the penalty and slot it into the bottom right corner past New York keeper Ethan Horvath.
The early lead led to DC sitting back for the majority of the first half. Red Bull kept 70 percent of possession in the opening period, and most of it was just outside of DC’s box, searching for solutions.
New York had some opportunities to equalize, like Cade Cowell’s free kick in the 24th minute, which was pushed away by DC United goalkeeper Sean Johnson. The set piece came after 18-year-old starlet Julian Hall won possession in midfield and was driving towards the box, but he was pulled back by defender Lucas Bartlett for his first yellow card offense of the game.
Red Bull were on the front foot; winger Jorge Ruvalcaba had a final ball turned away in the 33rd minute, and Hall would get a chance of his own to bring the teams level after Ronald Donkor’s pass left him one-on-one with the keeper; unfortunately, the teenager’s shot was right at Johnson just 10 minutes later.
But DC bit back: 16-year-old homegrown debutant Oscar Avilez had a chance in the 47th minute of the first half, but Horvath was able to turn it onto the post. Finally, on the last corner before half-time, the ball was won by Baribo in the air, which found defender Silvan Hefti, who doubled DC’s lead right before the break.
In the second half, with 33 minutes left to play, New York was looking for answers; they turned to experience on the bench and brought in Emile Forseberg, Choupo-Moting, Cameron Harper and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty.
The substitutions would make an immediate impact; Hall, now playing from the left wing, found Forseberg with a low cross, but his should-be-easy finish was turned away by Johnson.
The game took a turn in the 67th minute when DC defender Bartlett received his second yellow of the game for delaying the restart. The costly time-wasting meant that the home team would have to defend their two-goal advantage with only ten men.
The lead was shortly cut in half after Forseberg found Choupo-Moting with a through ball; the experienced striker danced around the keeper before finishing the move.
With pressure mounting and DC playing a man down, the rest of the game was dictated by the Red Bull attack.
Sean Nealis, brother of Red Bull defender Dylan, had a clearance off the line after Harper played a searching ball across the face of goal in the 74th minute. Harper was again involved for New York’s best chance to find the equalizer in the 84th minute when Forseberg played a long ball over the DC defense. Harper got on the end of it, but his effort nicked the post.
New York was playing very direct for the remainder of the game, crossing the ball into the box and hoping a goal would develop from the scramble. Horvath even came up for a corner as the team kept searching for a second goal that would never come.
This misstep in the hunt for the postseason means that Cincinnati could overtake them, and DC United can draw themselves level on points after the games in hand are played. New York continues their season on Saturday, hosting Toronto.
For more on Red Bull New York, visit AMNY.com
