Two in a Row!

Screaming Eagles cheer at DC's 2-0 win over NYCFC at Citi Field in NYC

DC United 2-0 NYCFC, May 3, 2026

It's been a while since DC United strung together two wins, but after defeating NYCFC at Citi Field in New York yesterday (May 3), they have done just that.

The Screaming Eagles sent a bus up to New York, and the road warriors went home happy, although I think the photo below is on the way up:

It's important to stay hydrated on a long trip

DC's lineup:

Johnson in goal

Kurokawa, Nealis, Bartlett, Hefti in defense

Peglow, Servania, Peltola, Stroud in midfield

Munteanu, Hopkins at forward

Subs: Herrera for Stroud (60th), Markovic for Hopkins (60th), Murrell for Munteanu (78th),

Antley for Peglow (89th)

Baribo missed his second straight game with injury. He was listed as questionable the day before, so hopefully it's not long-term. However, our second DP, Munteanu, starting his second game after very limited minutes earlier in the season, picked up the slack quite nicely. I look forward to a future game when Baribo and Munteanu are paired together.

It was an interesting game. NYCFC dominated possession (73% to 27%) but DC had way more shots (19 to 9) and shots on goal (7 to 4). The playing field is small (baseball and soccer do not have the same dimensions) but DC did a great job of limiting quality chances with their team defense, and Johnson made some really nice saves with the chances that did get through.

Munteanu opened the scoring with a poacher's goal in the 29th minute. A long throw-in from Stroud was headed in front of the goal, and Munteanu snuck past the defenders and shot in from a yard or two out.

Rowles was judged to be thrown down by the neck in the penalty area in the 73rd mnute, and Munteanu converted the kick for the second goal.

The defensive back four and Johnson have gelled nicely. It's pretty much the same four each week, and they play well together. Peltola has had a good year on defense as well. I appreciate watching how they play as a team and require opponents to get through multiple obstacles to get off a clear shot. Having a goalie like Johnson, who as a rule doesn't let in anything soft (and often not anything hard) makes the whole package work very well. After a slow start, we seem to be improving on offense as well.

Next up: a trip to FC Nashville on Saturday, May 9. This will be a late start (9pm). Then DC has three straight home games (Chicago on May 13, St. Louis on May 16, and Montreal on May 23) to close out the pre-World Cup part of the MLS season.