Thanks to a Peglow brace, D.C. snap a four-game losing streak on the road against the Red Bulls
- Mario Amaya
- Apr 20
- 4 min read
Coming into their game against the New York Red Bulls Saturday night at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, NJ, D.C. United had a four-game losing streak heading into the match against their fiercest rival in the 109th meeting between these two MLS originals.
In another chapter of the Atlantic Cup, D.C. was able to snap its four-game losing streak and defeat the Red Bulls by a score of 2-1.
“The last few weeks have been challenging,” Coach Troy Lesesne said. “I don’t think we shied away from that in terms of the results, but we also know there were some good performances in there, and we knew we were very close in many ways to being able to turn some of those performances into results.”
The Game
The First big goal-scoring came from D.C. in the 11th minute when David Schnegg sent a cross into the box to Aaron Herrea, who volleyed the ball towards the net, but Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel was equal to the shot and prevented the shot from going into his goal.
“We needed it,” Herrera said. “Bad.”
The Red Bulls created a goalscoring opportunity of their own on a set piece in the 26th minute, after Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting got to the end of a corner kick and headed the ball towards goal, forcing Luis Barraza to make a save and send the ball over the crossbar for a corner kick.
In the 29th minute, Christian Benteke had to be subbed off for Dominique Badji after suffering and being treated for an injury minutes earlier.
“He felt like he strained it, but he also felt like it wasn’t one that he’s pulled completely,” Lesesne said. “We’re going to have to evaluate it and get more information on it, but I’m hopeful it’s not going to be too significant.”
D.C. was close to opening the scoring again in the 31st minute after Schnegg played a through ball to Jarod Stroud. Stroud marched towards the box and got a shot off that went past Coronel and hit the crossbar. Herrera got the rebound, but his follow-up shot ended up in the hands of the Paraguayan netminder.
United would strike first in the 35th minute. After a long Barraza goal kick that ended up deep in Red Bull territory, the ball took a big bounce and found its way to João Peglow, who flicked the ball with his head past the mark of Tim Parker, making his way towards goal. Peglow got a powerful shot towards goal, putting the ball in the back of the net to score his first goal for the Black and Red.
“We knew that he had this in him. You know, I mean, he had a couple of really, really important moments against Sporting KC to draw a penalty to get an assist,” said Lesense. “We were waiting for him to ultimately up and open up in his account to score a goal for the club. And he scored two tonight, and two fantastic goals. I mean, the second one is phenomenal. He has that level of quality in him and we need him to display that. And I'm just again, just really, really excited for what this can do for his confidence and for our team's confidence to have another score like that step up.”
D.C. doubled their lead nine minutes later. Schnegg sent a cross into the box, finding Herrera, who got his head to the ball and sent it in the direction of Peglow. The Brazilian midfielder went up in the air, twisting his body in mid-air with his back to goal, and got an overhead kick that went into the far corner of Coronel’s goal, leaving everyone inside Sports Illustrated Stadium stunned.
“It was just the spur of the moment,” Peglow said. “I saw that the ball was at the right level and right height, and I had to take the opportunity.”
New York would pull a goal back in the 57th minute. Panamanian defender Omar Valencia took a corner kick, which was cleared out by Herrera away from the box, The rebound fell to Felipe Carbello, who headed the ball back into the box towards Emil Forsberg who flicked the ball towards Choupo-Moting. The former Bayern Munich forward settled the ball and ripped a close-range volley towards Barraza’s net, the ball bounced off Lucas MacNaughton before ending up in the back of the net.
The Red Bulls created several more goal-scoring opportunities in front of goal, however, D.C.'s defense would stifle their opportunities to secure all three points.
With this result, D.C. United sits in 13th place of the Eastern Conference with 9 points, while New York sits in 9th place with 12 points.
D.C. will travel to Chester, PA, where they take on another Eastern Conference rival in the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park. The match will take place on Saturday, April 26th, with kickoff starting at 4:30 pm.
