Top Stories

Barklage rampage leads Red Bulls past D.C. United

BrandonBarklage (Getty)

Brandon Barklage picked the perfect time to open his MLS scoring account, netting two beautiful goals on Sunday night to vanquish the very team that waived him last winter.

D.C. United looked ready to steamroll New York after starting fast with a Chris Pontius goal just 31 seconds into the match, but the Red Bulls took that early punch and kept on coming, with Barklage leading the way. The former D.C. United player delivered both goals to erase the 2-1 deficit before Jan Gunnar Solli also delivered his first MLS goal for the eventual game winner in the Red Bulls 3-2 victory on Sunday night.

Pontius, who burned New York for a hat-trick in April's 4-1 thumping of New York, punished the Red Bull again, with his first-minute goal and a second-half goal that gave D.C. United life by making it 3-2, but New York did well to hold on to their lead even as D.C. United took control of the match late.

The victory moved the Red Bulls into a tie for first place with D.C. United, with a game in hand. 

Here are the match highlights:

What did you think of the match? Impressed with New York's ability to battle back? See D.C. and New York battling for first place in the East the rest of the way, or think Sporting Kansas City will have something to say about that?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. If GSS is referring to the one a few seats down from me (I’m sure there was no other), the sign was the standard John 3:16 poster you see at any number of sporting events. The same guy was giving the line judge the business all evening, especially for the offsides on the second DC goal.

    Reply
  2. im happy for MLS because that was a great game. but i’m going to be salty about this for a bit. but it’s okay, we’ll stomp NY in DC again for the Cup.

    Reply
  3. That was one of the best games so far this season. Mehdi Bolluchy played his best game as a pro. The passing by RBNY in the 1st half was very pleasing to the eye.

    Why is Boskovic not on the field more for DC United? He is a class player. DC United looked very dangerous with him on the field?

    The other good game of the weekend was the RSL-SJC game. There was some good play in that game too. Amazing the saves made against RSL in that game.

    Reply
  4. You are an idiot, I will respect others on this site, and won’t go into scripture, however. Kept your Political/religious views to yourself.

    Reply
  5. you got offended by a bible verse? it must’ve been a really bad one. or maybe you’re just too easily offended?

    Reply
  6. Last summer was the same, although sell-outs like this didn’t happen until end of the summer so this is a good sign. This was a big ‘family’ night with lots of kids roaming around. Sunday night too, which says things are slowly changing for the better.

    Reply
  7. Agreed on Pontius from another RB fan but his second goal was offside, more so than DeRo’s offside call. I didn’t hear any complaints from the announcers on the highlights. I was at the game so I don’t know if it went unnoticed.

    Reply
  8. Whats wrong with a bible? maybe you should watch what you say, respect me I will respect you. Yahweh is important to me, so be careful what you say.

    Reply
  9. one heck of a game. as RBNY fan very satisfying result. Great goals – even DC goals were good although 2nd one was offside. Electric atmosphere. Props to DC fans for fair comments on the boards.

    Reply
  10. It was Barklages mark. Pearce could have done better as well.

    That being said heck of a run by Pontius. Great placement between back line and goalie.

    Reply
  11. A fantastic atmosphere for national TV. This was a game worthy of rivals fighting for first place in the conference. If TH scored on that last chance, I think RBA would have gone crazy. Props to Brandon and Jan for opening their accounts in highlight reel form.

    Reply
  12. props to barklage from a DCU fan. nice to see him getting some minutes, and hope he stays healthy. and that NY loses the rest of their games.

    Reply
  13. A hugely important win for RBNY, both in the standings and in fan perception. Any other result in front of that crowd (and a national TV audience) would have had the naysayers naysaying all over the place.

    Anybody see which defender Pontius beat to the near post?

    Reply
  14. DC Fan here. Great match for the MLS. NYRB outplayed us and deserved the win today, despite our late surge. RB have come a LONG way since the last time we met, and I can’t wait for the rematch in August. There was something electric about the game with the quality finishes by Barklage and Pontius…

    as far as DC… I think Santos should start over Salihi, and Najar over DeLeon every game.

    Reply
  15. i was wondering, if they can pack it out and be super loud for this match, where the hell is everyone else for every other game? they can’t even fill one section usually. for a massive city, that’s pretty sad

    Reply
  16. solidarity… the only thing i was offended by was the person near the DC section with a bible verse poster… none of that nonsense in here.

    Reply
  17. Given the Lee Nguyen result vs. Vancouver and now Barklage, I’d say teams should be pretty careful playing against players they waived in the preseason. Both players had easily their best games of the year when motivated against a former team.

    Reply
  18. For the 1st 65 minutes (the first 31 seconds aside), the Red Bulls played the best soccer I have seen them play all year. They were toying with DC en route to a 3-1 lead. They fell apart during the last 35 minutes which seemed mostly due to fatigue. Ballouchy, who had a dominant first half, was clearly out of gas and probably should have been subbed instead of Lindpere. Happy for Barklage. His second goal was a work of art. He deserves it. All-in-all, a very entertaining game and a big win for the Red Bulls.

    Reply
  19. Chris Pontius has always impressed me with his movement off the ball and his composure with the ball at the forward position. I think his skill set would translate to the international game better than people expect. Klinsmann should call him into the squad to get a closer look.

    Reply
  20. I was really entertained. What happened to Balouche (I’m not even going to try to spell his name right). He used to be awful, but he ran things tonight. Can anyone explain that?

    Reply
  21. Agreed. Thought I’m irked by the loss and the fact DCU didn’t play particularly well for 2/3 of the game, that was still a pretty entertaining match. Rivalries and sold-out arenas with a few stars on the field is good for MLS.

    And we’ll settle this Atlantic Cup business with NYRB on August 29th at RFK.

    Reply
  22. NBC must be happy. If any casual fan tuned in and saw a packed house with an electric atmosphere throughout the game, as well as two fierce rivals playing a wildly entertaining match, they’ll probably tune in again in the future.

    As for this DCU fan, it was frustrating to watch from minutes 2-65. The rest of the game was enjoyable though.

    Reply
  23. Jesus at this point fans of literally every soccer team on the planet think there are forces out to get them. MLS hates New York right, they don’t want a big city team with a huge payroll and internationally known stars to succeed. It alleles sense now!

    Reply
  24. Barklage was epic tonight. Glad he’s a Red Bull.

    Nice to see the stadium actually packed for once. Henry back. Life’s good.

    Reply
  25. I’m just glad we pulled it out. I really felt the MLS had it in for us – playing 3 games in 8 days with going from NY to Chicago and then to Vancouver and across all those time zones. Guess we showed them!! GO RED BULLS.

    Reply
  26. So did everyone notice all of the “haters” in the stands? I guess the NYRB fans are nothing more than a bunch of haters. They should ban them from the game. There’s no room for hate in the game!

    Reply

Leave a Comment