NEW YORK CITY FC vs. D.C. UNITED
Yankee Stadium | New York, New York
Thursday, September 1 | Week #26 | MLS Game #265
7 pm ET (MLS LIVE, YES, NewsChannel8)
It's a crucial match in the Eastern Conference playoff chase when New York City FC play host to D.C. United on Thursday evening at Yankee Stadium. Both clubs sit above the red line in playoff positions, NYCFC still just two points off the conference lead, with United a further nine points back, sitting in sixth place and the final postseason spot. NYCFC had their four-game undefeated run put to an end last weekend in a 2-1 loss at Orlando City SC, while United are now undefeated in their last six matches, after equaling their all-time club record in a 6-2 defeat of the Chicago Fire on Saturday evening at RFK Stadium.
- New York City FC had their undefeated streak put to an end after four games, losing for the first time in more than a month, in their 2-1 defeat by Orlando City SC on Sunday evening.
- D.C. United equaled their club record – set three times previously in their 21-year history – hitting for six goals in a 6-2 defeat of the Chicago Fire on Saturday evening at RFK Stadium. Patrick Mullins scored three goals, his first professional hat trick, while Luciano Acosta scored a goal and added three assists for the biggest game in his first MLS season.
- The teams are meeting for the second time this season. David Villa and Khiry Shelton scored goals four minutes apart early in the second half as NYCFC claimed a 2-0 victory May 8 at RFK Stadium.
- The teams met twice in New York City FC’s inaugural MLS season, each winning on their home ground. NYCFC won 3-1 on Aug. 13 at Yankee Stadium, and United won 2-1 on Oct. 2 at RFK Stadium.
REFEREE: Chris Penso. AR1 (bench): Brian Dunn; AR2 (opposite): Danny Thornberry; 4th: Jaime Herrera
MLS Career: 92 games; FC/gm: 24.0; Y/gm: 3.5; R: 30; pens: 31
SUSPENDED: DC: Jared Jeffrey (caution accumulation; through Sept. 3)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: DC: Luciano Acosta, Steve Birnbaum, Marcelo Sarvas
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: DC: Patrick Mullins, Sean Franklin
DISABLED LIST: DC: Chris Korb, Alhaji Kamara, Charlie Horton
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: DC: Steve Birnbaum (USA; 9/2 at St. Vincent and the Grenadines; 9/6 vs. Trinidad & Tobago) -- NYC: Ronald Matarrita (Costa Rica; 9/2 at Haiti; 9/6 vs. Panama); Maxime Chanot (Luxembourg; 9/2 vs. Latvia; 9/6 at Bulgaria)
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (3 meetings): NYCFC 2 wins, 6 goals -- United 1 win, 3 goals -- Ties 0
AT YANKEE STADIUM (1 meeting): NYCFC 1 win, 3 goals -- United 0 wins, 1 goal -- Ties 0
FUTURE MATCH: 10/16: D.C. United vs. New York City FC, 5 p.m. ET
- Coaches record: Patrick Vieira vs. DC: P1 W1 L0 D0 -- Ben Olsen vs. NYC: P3 W1 L2 D0
LAST MEETING (MLS):
5/8: DC 0, NYC 2 (Villa 49; Shelton 53)
- The opening goal came four minutes into the second half. Khiry Shelton made a run from the right touchline, cutting the ball inside to Tommy McNamara, who flicked it cleverly back to David Villa, and he clinically finished from the heart of the box.
- Four minutes later the lead was doubled when Ronald Matarrita settled an attempted D.C. United clearance and whipped a ball to the edge of the six where Shelton split a pair of defenders to head the ball home.
- D.C. UNITED (4-4-2): Travis Worra - Sean Franklin, Steve Birnbaum, Bobby Boswell, Taylor Kemp - Patrick Nyarko (Jared Jeffrey 27), Nick DeLeon, Marcelo Sarvas, Lamar Neagle (Miguel Aguilar 84) - Alvaro Saborio, Luciano Acosta (Julian Buscher 82)
- NEW YORK CITY FC (4-1-2-3): Josh Saunders - R.J. Allen (Ethan White 90), Frederic Brillant, Jason Hernandez, Ronald Matarrita - Federico Bravo - Mikey Lopez, Andrea Pirlo - Khiry Shelton (Andoni Iraola 78), David Villa, Thomas McNamara (Steven Mendoza 72).
