By Daniel Feuerstein | Harrison, NJ | April 22, 2026
Red Bull New York returned home to Sports Illustrated Stadium after getting destroyed by CF Montreal and wanted to improve their game by facing their longtime rival, D.C. United. One side hasn’t scored in four straight while the other wants to get back to winning ways, and when you have two teams trying to fix things to get a big three points against each other, they decide to throw defense out the window and have a goal fest, which they did as both the Red Bulls and D.C. United ended their match with a four-goal draw.
Julian Hall Strikes Again
It was a horrible start for the Red Bulls, as D.C. got off to a strong start from the opening whistle and attacked with passion and energy. There was a moment where the visitors scored the opening goal, but it was wiped out for an offside as Tai Baribo was in an offside position when the ball was played to him, setting up a Joao Peglow chance. After the first 10 to 12 minutes had been played, the Red Bulls finally got into the match, and they scored the opening goal when Adri Mehmeti in the midfield made a strong pass to Ronald Donkor, who moved toward the area, and then a nice, quick pass led to Julian Hall, who smashed it past Sean Johnson in the 15th minute for his sixth of the season.
Ronald Donkor Finally Gets His First Goal
After assisting on Hall’s tally, it was Ronald Donkor’s opportunity to finally score his first MLS goal after arriving at the club several seasons ago. He’s had many chances, but they’ve either been saved or hit the woodwork. This time, he finally converted when Matthew Dos Santos was along the near side with the ball, trying to make a play. He crossed it toward the area, but the ball deflected off a D.C. defender and magically went toward Donkor. He took a stab at the ball and beat Sean Johnson inside the near post in the 21st minute.
Jorge Ruvalcaba Has Awoken
Since his arrival from UNAM Pumas of Liga MX, Jorge Ruvalcaba has been given a designated player contract and has been part of a brand-new attacking forward line with Julian Hall and Cade Cowell. He’s done well bringing up the ball but hasn’t found the target that much. He finally scored against Inter Miami at Nu Stadium for his first MLS goal back on April 11th, but in this game against DC United, he finally broke out into what Michael Bradley and Director of Sport Julian DeGuzman saw from him. When the second half started, the Red Bulls started to press again.
Rafael Mosquera started the play by playing the ball to Emil Forsberg in the middle of the park. He spotted Ruvalcaba along the far side, gave him the ball, and he sprinted down toward the end line near the D.C. area. He pulled the ball back, allowing the D.C. defender to miss him with his slide tackle, then, out of nowhere, from such a tight angle, Ruvalcaba unleashed an amazing shot that went into the upper 90 of the back post, and Sports Illustrated Stadium exploded in excitement for his first of the match in the 52nd minute.
The second half of the match was even better and filthier. After a strong save from Ethan Horvath, the distribution to Ronald Donkor was strong. Then Donkor saw Ruvalcaba attacking down the far side and gave him the ball to create another chance. Wide open down the far side, making a nice run, when he gets toward the area, he cuts inside just outside of the area and then unleashes a mid- to low shot that takes a bounce and beats Sean Johnson in the 71st minute.
Tai Baribo Hat Trick
No matter which club Tai Baribo is on, the Israeli international is so dangerous that you need to keep your head on a swivel to prevent him from scoring anything in your net. Once again, he proved that if he gets a slight touch on the ball, he will make you pay and pay dearly. He was given a fantastic ball from the near side as he got a hold of a shot in the 37th minute. A poor challenge from Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty on Joao Peglow allowed him to attack down the near side and find Baribo as he slotted one home in the 59th minute. Then, for the hat trick, he got in front of a defender and found a way to tap it in in the 80th minute.
Failed to pay attention to the restart
When Ruvalcaba scored his first of the match in the 52nd minute, it felt as if the Red Bulls were still in celebration mode. Once D.C. restarted the match, they took advantage of the backline when Peglow lifted the ball over the entire Red Bull side, and Jackson Hopkins broke through the backline, going through the middle of the centerbacks Robert Voloder and Dylan Nealis. Went on a breakaway and found a way to get in all alone and beat Ethan Horvath in the 54th minute to pull back another goal to make it a one-goal deficit again.
The second half was horrible defensively
The defense was just a shambles after retaking the two-goal lead after Ruvalcaba scored. The backline made poor defensive decisions and allowed D.C. to create chances and convert. Even when the offside flag came up or if a foul saved the Red Bulls from dropping all three points, it’s still a poor second half, and Bradley needs to get them back on the right side of the match and play the way they have when they defeated Orlando, New England, Cincinnati, and Miami. This needs to be better, and while we still have a month-plus left in the first half of the season before the World Cup break, this problem needs to be addressed right away.
“Yeah, we’re at the moment giving away too much, so that’s for sure. To score four goals and be up 2-0 and 3-1 at home, we left points on the table tonight, for sure. The chances and the goals that we give away in certain moments are broken plays where now there can be a little bit of chaos, or there are a few second balls that we don’t take care of or that we don’t win. On a night like tonight, D.C. has, in a lot of moments, four guys in their top line, and now if we don’t take care of certain second-ball situations, then they’re going to just start running guys through them. Our ability to deal with some of those situations wasn’t what it needed to be. So we’ve got to continue to look hard at how we can deal with those things in a better way.”
Said Red Bulls New York Manager Michael Bradley
Key Stats for Red Bull New York
JORGE RUVALCABA: Scored Two Goals tonight, His second and third of the season
RONALD DONKOR: Scored a goal and two assists, his first MLS goal and his second and third assists of the season. His sixth and seventh career MLS assists
JULIAN HALL: Scored a goal, his sixth of the season, his Eighth in all competitions, His ninth MLS goal.
ADRI MEHMETI: Earned an Assist, his third assist of the season
RAFAEL MOSQUERA: Earned his first MLS Assist
EMIL FORSBERG: Earned an assist, his third assist of the season and fourth assist in all competitions. 19th career MLS assist
ETHAN HORVATH: Earned his first MLS assist
Red Bull New York and D.C. United had a throwback game in New Jersey with an eight-goal match, as both sides took home a point at Sports Illustrated Stadium. While the goals were great, the defense was lacking all night long.
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