WASHINGTON D.C. (April 22, 2012) – The New York Red Bulls had their four-game unbeaten streak snapped Sunday evening, falling 4-1 to D.C. United at RFK Stadium. Forward Thierry Henry went into a first place tie with San Jose’s Chris Wondolowski in the MLS Golden Boot race, tallying his eighth goal of the season in the loss.
The third-place Red Bulls (3-3-1, 10 points) return home Saturday, April 28 to battle the New England Revolution at Red Bull Arena at 3:30 PM (TV: NBC Sports Network; Radio: WLIB 1190 AM). For tickets, call 1.877.RBSOCCER or log onto www.newyorkredbulls.com.
D.C. took the lead in the eighth minute. United won the ball in midfield and forward Chris Pontius drove towards goal before rifling a long-range rising shot that beat goalkeeper Ryan Meara.
The Red Bulls tried to get back into the encounter and tested Joe Willis in the 25th minute, when Henry took a pass from Kenny Cooper and hit it straight at the United goalkeeper. Six minutes later, Jan Gunnar Solli’s cross was controlled in the box by Henry, who swiveled and knocked a deflected right footed attempt just past the right post.
United doubled its advantage in the 32nd minute. Maicon Santos had possession, drove along the endline and fired a heavy pass into the six-yard box. New York’s Connor Lade tried to clear it but Pontius pounced onto the loose ball and stroked it home to make the score 2-0. Soon after, Nick DeLeon found the back of the net and furthered D.C.’s advantage, one-timing a Dwayne De Rosario feed off of Red Bulls defender Markus Holgersson and into the bottom left corner of the net. Pontius completed his hat trick in the 69th minute, latching onto a loose ball, dribbling in and putting it under Meara and into the goal.
Henry pulled one back for the visitors in the 72nd minute. After Dax McCarty was fouled from 23-yards-out, Henry stepped up and curled his free kick into the top left corner of the goalmouth. McCarty nearly made the score 4-2, heading a Lade cross high minutes moments later.
Forward Jhonny Arteaga and defender Tyler Ruthven made their MLS debuts Sunday, coming into the game off the bench. Lade, a Red Bulls Academy product, earn his first career League start.
New York Red Bulls 1, D.C. United 4
April 22, 2012 – RFK Stadium – Washington D.C.
MLS Regular Season
Scoring Summary:
DC: Chris Pontius 2 (unassisted) 8’
DC: Chris Pontius 3 (unassisted) 32’
DC: Nick DeLeon 3 (Dwayne De Rosario 4) 36’
DC: Chris Pontius 4 (unassisted) 69’
NY: Thierry Henry 8 (unassisted) 72’
Disciplinary Summary:
DC: Perry Kitchen (caution) 71’
DC: Emiliano Dudar (caution) 71’
New York Red Bulls (3-3-1, 10 pts.) – Ryan Meara (GK), Jan Gunnar Solli, Markus Holgersson, Stephen Keel (Tyler Ruthven 46’), Connor Lade, Dane Richards (Jhonny Arteaga 81’), Victor Palsson, Dax McCarty, Mehdi Ballouchy (Joel Lindpere 46’), Kenny Cooper, Thierry Henry
Substitutes Not Used: Jeremy Vuolo, Brandon Barklage, Jonathan Borrajo, Corey Hertzog
D.C. United (3-2-3, 12 pts.) – Joe Willis, Robbie Russell, Brandon McDonald, Emiliano Dudar, Daniel Woolard, Danny Cruz, Mark Kitchen, Dwayne De Rosario (Stephen King 66’), Nick DeLeon, Maicon Santos (Hamdi Salihi 75’), Chris Pontius (Lewis Neal 87’)
Substitutes Not Used: Bill Hamid, Andy Najar, Branko Boskovic, Chris Korb
Referee: Mark Geiger
Referee’s Assistants: Sean Hurd, Joe Fletcher
4th Referee: Andrew Chapin
Attendance: 13,262
