Red Bulls travel to our Nation’s Capital to face D.C. United

By Daniel Feuerstein | Morris Township, NJ | October 13th, 2026

Red Bull New York, coming off their most complete performance of the weekend against San Diego FC, will now travel for a midweek match down the Northeast Corridor to face D.C. United. The oldest rivalry match in Major League Soccer has returned as the club will attempt to get the full three points at the venue where they have only lost twice in the regular season, but they have had excellent wins since the Capital club left the now-demolished RFK Stadium. The Red Bulls are currently in the Wild Card spot, and DC United are once again out of the playoffs; this is an important match for the club to keep their position and stay above the line.

The last meeting at Sports Illustrated Stadium

You have to go back to their last match, all the way to Wednesday, April 22nd, when they had the lead and lost it late with a four-goal draw. Goals from Julian Hall, Ronald Donkor, and a brace from Jorge Ruvalcaba thought were enough to earn the full three points, but a hat-trick from Israeli international striker Tai Baribo helped D.C. United take a point away. But for the last couple of seasons, the Red Bulls have had plenty of success at Audi Field, and they are looking to continue that success this coming Wednesday, after a strong performance at the weekend.

“We spent a little bit of time this morning going through the game and making sure the players can see and feel and understand all of the good things that went into it. When you get to this time of year, the hope is that you can put all of the work, all of the experiences, all of the qualities together in the best way and find a way to create real momentum and move forward as the games get really important,” said Michael Bradley

Roster Rotation will be key

With six matches remaining in the regular season and the hope to attempt to leapfrog over Orlando City, and/or possibly more, Michael Bradley is going to have to rely on his roster and give some players a chance to shine who are coming back from injury or who usually come on as a substitute. But make no mistake, the Red Bulls know they need to have a strong start, and they need to get an early chance to shake up DC’s confidence when the moment comes into play. They must always be at the ready whenever their number is called, for either the starting 11 or to come on as a sub.

“A lot of our players have moved themselves forward in good ways. And that’s a credit to them and their mentality and their commitment to come in every day. And within the context of what we are doing as a team and trying to still always keep the…the the bigger part of who we are and what we’re doing and what we’re building as a group, still focus on the part of how they can all get better individually, and so I think that’s a that’s a It’s a balance, and it’s an important balance to find.

I still believe very strongly that one of the quickest ways to improve a team is to make every individual player better. And so a big part of what we do every single day is try to find the right ways to connect with as many of our individual players as possible so that we’re helping them understand who they are and the qualities that they have and make sure that they are improving and make sure that they can continue to be really good players as games get better and harder and faster,” said Michael Bradley

D.C. United is still dangerous

Regardless of where D.C. United is in the Eastern Conference table, this will always be a derby match. Regardless of what level it’s currently on, these two old rivals are still going out there to try and beat each other to a pulp. It might not be Jeff Agoos, Marco Etcheverry, Raul Diaz Arce, and Jaime Moreno vs. Tab Ramos, Giovanni Savarese, Tony Meola, and Rhett Hardy, but it would be a big letdown if the Red Bulls drop any form of points against this club, which continues to find its rhythm throughout these last decades after the Bruce Arena, Ben Olsen era that got them trophies in many domestic and international competitions.

“It’s a team that I believe has a really good sense of who they are. You know, they look forward quickly. They find moments of being more direct where they can use the qualities of a guy like Baribo and look up towards him and take advantage of his speed, his strength, his presence, and try to create danger from that. So we know this time of year that a lot is riding on every game, and we’re really excited about the part of going down to D.C. for a big Wednesday night game with a lot on the line. And sure, understanding who they are and how they play and what they like to do, but as always, trying to be ready to put the game on our terms and try to go after things in a really, really strong way,” said Michael Bradley

Remembering Bradley Wright-Phillips making history at Audi Field

It was an amazing moment for the Red Bulls when they traveled down to Audi Field for the very first time. In 2018, Jesse Marsch had already left for RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga, and Chris Armas took over as interim head coach. The match was delayed due to heavy rainstorms, and the pitch was showing RFK Stadium-sized puddles until it finally came to an end. When the opening whistle blew, the game began, and within the first five to ten minutes of the match, Bradley Wright-Phillips, who was on his 99th career MLS regular-season goal, beat the keeper between the legs and made history as the fastest MLS striker to score 100 goals in 159 matches, beating Taylor Twellman’s 174 matches.

After nutmegging the keeper, BWP ripped off his red shirt and underneath it was the white shirt with the big red numbers 100 that was done by former assistant Kit Manager Sean Ruiz, with his dad’s permission Fernando Ruiz. The only goal of the match, the full three points to the Red Bulls, and they started to use what should’ve been a house of horrors for all opponents to DC United, became a horror for the locals. That was one of the few moments the Red Bulls have made at Audi Field to give them great memories. BWP’s Hat Trick to steal a point, Elias Manoel’s chip-and-dip bomb that dropped into the net, and a dagger of a penalty by Danny Royer to grab the win. Let’s hope Michael Bradley’s Red Bulls can do the job.

Red Bull New York heading down I-95 to face D.C. United in a big midweek tilt.

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