DC United vs. New York Red Bulls | 2020 MLS Match Preview

2020 MLS Regular Season – Week 11
D.C. United vs. New York Red Bulls
Audi Field – Washington, D.C.
September 12 – 7:00 PM ET

STREAMING: MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, on DAZN in Canada

LOCAL TV: WJLA 24/7 News, MSG

Goals and wins have been tough to come by for longtime rivals D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls, who square off for the 81st time in the regular season Saturday night at Audi Field.

The teams met on September 2 at Red Bull Arena, with Erik Sorga scoring the dramatic stoppage-time winner for D.C. United (2W-4L-4D). The Black-and-Red followed that up with a historic 0-0 draw against NYCFC on Sunday, while the Red Bulls (3W-5L-2D) first game under interim coach Bradley Carnell was a 3-0 home defeat to the Philadelphia Union.

D.C. United

D.C. became just the second team in history to complete an MLS match without a single shot attempt, and the first to earn a point while doing so in a 0-0 draw against NYCFC Sunday at Audi Field. Ben Olsen's side, who joined the New England Revolution, who accomplished that feat in 2017 in a 7-0 loss to Atlanta United, were outshot 19-0 on the game.

Olsen said the narrative should be about how a shorthanded team found a way to earn four points from their last two games than focusing on the offensive deficiencies.

"It's interesting how those stories take shape, but to me the story was from a coaching standpoint, a team that was down five, six starters, with some young guys in an unfamiliar structure, doing what it takes to get points in a very tough league against two very tough opponents," he said. "And I don't understand why sometimes the narrative is geared always towards the offensive side and a lack of appreciation for a group that is willing to defend and grind and do what it takes within what they have to offer, to get a result. I'm used to that. We've won games with one shot. I think we broke records with one shot to win games, I think we even had an own goal, where we had 0 shots and we won on an own goal. So, we continue to break records around here."

Updated team roster
Injury Report:
- OUT: Paul Arriola (M) - ACL injury
- OUT: Edison Flores (M) - facial injury
- OUT: Russell Canouse (D) - hamstring injury
- OUT: Felipe (M) - ACL injury
- QUESTIONABLE: Steven Birnbaum (D) - undisclosed injury
Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None

New York Red Bulls

There was a lot Carnell liked in his first game in charge of the Red Bulls, right up to the Union's second goal Sunday night. But there were also some aspects of the 3-0 defeat, the team's third shutout loss in the last four games, that disturbed him.

"There's a lot of good things," Carnell said. "I spoke a little bit, I pointed out the personal things, what I didn’t enjoy on the day in terms of individual — the competitive nature, the aggressiveness, that, for me, was a little bit bothersome. I told them you know if that's the way we're gonna go about our business, we’re not gonna have a hope, we’re not gonna have a chance.

Updated team roster
Injury Report:
- OUT: Sean Davis (M) - knee injury
- QUESTIONABLE: Mark Rzatkowski (M) - hip injury
Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None