DC United and Red Bull fans cheer at the 2014 playoff match up at RFK Stadium.
Rob Tringali/NYRB
Top 3 moments in Atlantic Cup rivalry for NYRB
by Anna Ferkingstad, New York Editor
This weekend is a showdown that is all too familiar to these two clubs. The Atlantic Cup and the rivalry between the New York Red Bulls and DC United, is one of the oldest and most intense ‘derbys’ in the league. As DC United prepares to head to Red Bull Arena to face new head coach Jesse Marsch and his side in their home opener, Prost takes a look back at some of the most intense moments from this I-95 rivalry.
In the founding years of the MLS league, this New York City and Washington DC match up was as close as American soccer got to a derby. Only 200 miles apart, these two clubs host games that draw large levels of away supporters and a cross-town rivalry feel. The Atlantic Cup trophy is awarded each year to the team with the best record in the three regular season matchups between the clubs. Despite DC united grabbing the trophy in 2014, the Red Bulls got revenge when they eliminated their rival and the Eastern Conference top seed from the playoffs. Will they come out on top again?
Here are the top 3 moments in the rivalry’s history for the New York Red Bull side:
1. 2011 Atlantic Cup Victory
In the 2011 season, the Red Bulls were looking to extend the streak of Atlantic Cup victories that began in 2010. 2010 was big year the New York side – they finished first in the Eastern Conference (after being one of the last teams in the league in 2009), they acquired Thierry Henry and even broke DC United’s eight year Atlantic Cup victory streak. Bigger yet, was the scoreline of the face off between the New York Red Bulls and DC United on April 21, 2011.
Ending at a shocking 4-0, the April 2011 match up between DC United and New York still marks the biggest win by the Red Bull side against their I-95 rival in MLS regulation play. To make matters better (or worse if you are a DC fan), the loss occurred at RFK Stadium. Marking the biggest home loss for the United side since the 2005 MLS Cup Playoffs. Goals from Thierry Henry, Joel Lindpere and Juan Agudelo helped the Red Bulls to the victory and eventually led the team to winning the Atlantic Cup two-straight years. This also marked the first time that NYRB grabbed the Atlantic Cup two consecutive years, since the MetroStars took the title in 2000 and then again in 2001.
2. 2014 Playoff Victory
The 2014 playoff run was a big moment for a New York team that was deemed the underdogs of the Eastern Conference. An inconsistent season led Mike Petke’s team to slide into the postseason only after a last minute victory against Sporting Kansas City. After then defeating Kansas City again in the knockout stages, the Red Bulls were slotted to face their old-time rivals (and top Eastern Conference seed) DC United.
The two-game series opened in Red Bull Arena with a 2-0 victory for the home team. Netted goals by Peguy Luyindula and Bradley Wright-Phillips (2014’s Golden Boot winner) gave the team a two goal advantage in front of an energized crowd of over 20,000 as they headed into the second leg of the aggregate the following weekend. At RFK Stadium, DC United did not ease the pressure on the Red Bulls. United’s Nick DeLeon scored the opening goal in the 37th minute, giving New York fans a nail-biting 2-1 series total. With the team with the most goals in the aggregate moving forward after the two games, every netted shot counts. The big moment for the Red Bulls game in the 57th minute when Luyindula scored off of a cross by Thierry Henry. Despite DC’s late goal in stoppage time and the final scoreline of 2-1 in favor of DC United, it was not enough to win the aggregate and the Red Bulls advanced to face the Columbus Crew in the semifinals.
Luyindula is congratulated by his bench after scoring a goal against DC United. Rob Tringali/NYRB
3. 2003 Open Cup Semifinal
The 2003 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup marked the first time the MetroStars (the former name of the New York Red Bulls) and DC United met in a domestic tournament. The MetroStars advanced to play DC in the semifinals after defeating a fellow MLS Cup side, the New England Revolution, with a thrilling late goal by Honduran international, Amado Guevara.
United scored the first goal of the game in the 18th minutes of play with a strategic shot by Galin Ivanoc. Amado Guevara came up big again, scoring two goals for the MetroStars in the 20th and 43rd minutes of the match and allowing the team to enter half with a 2-1 advantage. A little over 10 minutes remaining in regulation time, United netted an equalizer only to have the MetroStars striker and icon, John Wolyneic, finish an exciting match-winner in the final moments of the game. Having beat DC 3-2, the MetroStars then advanced to their first ever championship of a major tournament and DC was eliminated from that year’s Lamar Hunt US Open Cup run.
