In an eight-goal thriller, the New York Red Bulls and D.C. United shares the spoils in the latest edition of the Atlantic Cup

The last week for D.C. United had not been a happy one for the club, to say the least. An away loss to the New England Revolution, followed by an early elimination of the US Open Cup at home against One Knoxville SC of USL League One, and a scoreless draw on the road against the Philadelphia Union, the Black-and-Red traveled to Northern New Jersey to take on their arch rivals, the New York Red Bulls in another edition of the oldest rivalry in Major League Soccer (MLS): The Atlantic Cup.

Silvan Hefti recorded an assist as D.C. United drew 4-4 against the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday night. Photo Credit: D.C. United

In the 111th meeting between these two MLS originals, some fireworks were produced on the field as both teams put on a display of goals, as both The Red Bulls and United settled for a 4-4 draw Wednesday night in a thriller that will surely go down as one of the best games of the 2026 season. 

The Game 

The Fireworks started in the 4th minute, as D.C. would be the aggressors early on in the match, and though they would be rewarded for their restlessness offensively as Aaron Herrera flicked the ball on to Jackson Hopkins, who would lay the ball off to Tai Baribo. The Israeli international played the ball across the box to João Peglow, who settled and shot the ball low past Ethan Horvath to score the first goal of the match, but the referee deemed the play offside and disallowed the goal. 

The Red Bulls would respond by scoring the first goal of the game in the 15th minute, after an Adri Mehmeti pass broke through D.C.'s backline, finding Ronald Donkor, who flicked the ball to an open Julian Hall, who broke away from his marker, leaving him with enough room inside the penalty area to shoot the ball past Sean Johnson to give the home side the early lead. 

New York would double their lead in the 21st minute, as Jorge Ruvalcaba tried to cut with the ball inside the box, but was unable to get out of the mark of Silvan Hefti. Ruvalcaba played the ball to an overlapping Matthew Dos Santos, who crossed the ball with his cross deflecting off Herrera, finding its way to Donkor, who, with a one-time shot, put the ball past Johnson to double the Red Bulls lead. 

D.C. nearly got itself on the scoring sheet in the 35th minute, after Herrera intercepted the ball in midfield with his head and sprinted towards the Red Bulls goal. The Guatemalan international slowed down as he entered the Red Bulls area, and played the ball to Baribo, who shot the ball towards goal, but his attempt was blocked by Dylan Nealis. 

D.C. would get on the scoring sheet just two minutes later. Matti Peltola would play the ball to Branden Sarvania, who laid the ball off to Hefti. Hefti would play a cutting through ball in his own half to Hopkins, who sprinted towards goal. Hopkins would carry the ball inside New York’s box with two defenders trailing him. Hopkins would play a back pass to an open Baribo, who slotted the ball past Horvath, netting his 4th goal of the season and cutting the deficit to one goal. 

Hopkins would connect with Baribo once again, close to halftime, as the D.C. academy product sent a cross to Baribo, who headed it just wide of Horvath’s goal, nearly going into the locker room with a tied game. 

D.C. would go down two goals once again in the 52nd minute as Emil Forsberg played the ball to Ruvalcaba on the left-hand side. The former Pumas UNAM player sped past Hefti on his way to the endline, proceeding to cut back from a sliding Herrera and, with a hard shot, put the ball top shelf past Johnson to double the Red Bulls lead once again. 

However, United would have a quick response to New York’s goal just two minutes later, Peltola headed the ball forward to Peglow. The Brazilian midfielder slotted the ball past the Red Bulls backline to Hopkins, who was left one-on-one with Horvath. Hopkins would place the ball in the lower left corner of the net, making it a one-goal game once again. 

D.C. would complete the comeback in the 58th minute. Kye Rowles intercepted the ball in his own end and played the ball towards Peglow, who turned the mark of Jakheel Marshall-Rutty and marched towards goal, sending the ball to Baribo, who was left in a one-on-one situation with Horvath after getting behind New York’s defensive line. Baribo would shoot the ball to the right-hand corner of the goal, past Horvath, getting his brace and bringing the game to level terms once again.  

The Red Bulls would take the lead in the 70th minute, after Donkor went past Peltola and moved forward, sending the ball in the direction of Ruvalcaba. Ruvalcaba would win the ball in open space and sprinted forward, cutting back inside outside the box, unleashing a thunderous strike from outside the box and into the lower right corner of the net, past Johnson to give New York the lead late. 

D.C. would not count themselves out and tied the game once again in the 80th minute. Peltola would play a long ball to Caden Clark on the right-hand side of the field. Clark played the ball inside the box to an overlapping Hefti, sending a cross to Baribo inside the six. Baribo chested the ball into the back of the net to get his first hat-trick as a member of The Black-and-Red and secure his 6th goal of the season. 

In stoppage time, the Red Bulls thought they had found the game-winner as Forsberg launched a cross into the box, finding Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who got his head to the ball, launching it towards the right-hand corner of the net. Still, Johnson was able to get a hand to it and keep the ball from going into the goal and out for a corner kick. 

D.C. thought they had the winner in the last minute after Nikola Markovic launched a ball into space to Jarod Stroud, who sent a back pass to Baribo, with the striker finishing the play with a heel kick into the back of the net. However, the referee called the goal back after Murrell pushed Robert Voloder to the ground, disallowing the play. 

With this result, New York currently sits in 8th place in the Eastern Conference with 12 points, while D.C. sits in 10th with 9 points. 

United now travels back home to Washington, DC, to Audi Field when they host Orlando City SC. The game will take place Saturday, April 25th, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 pm.