D.C. United will have to wait for their first win of 2020, as they fell 3-0 to the New York Red Bulls in their second preseason match. Daniel Royer and Florian Valot scored before halftime, while Tom Barlow added a third just after the hour mark, consigning United to a second straight training camp defeat.

Ben Olsen was forced into a makeshift lineup due to various player absences. Paul Arriola, Bill Hamid, Joseph Mora, and Ulises Segura all missed out due to national team duty, while Junior Moreno, Yamil Asad, and Donovan Pines all missed out with knocks. Edison Flores, meanwhile, is reportedly back in Peru finalizing his visa, while striker Ola Kamara was held out as well.

United apparently got off to a slower start, and after dealing with an early corner, Chris Seitz was forced to make his first save of the preseason:

9' Red Bulls get a shot on goal that is smothered by @Seitzy1 for his first save of the match.#DCU | #DCvRBNY — D.C. United Matchday (@DCUmatchday) February 1, 2020

However, the pressure kept coming, and within two minutes the Red Bulls had taken the lead, though details on what exactly happened were few and far between:

11' Red Bulls score after a cross to the far post. 0-1 #DCU | #DCvRBNY — D.C. United Matchday (@DCUmatchday) February 1, 2020

United responded with an attack of their own via Chris Odoi-Atsem, but appear to have given up the bulk of the early looks to their old rivals. First, Seitz made a save on a header, and then the Red Bulls made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute:

22' Red Bulls add a second after the initial shot is deflected. 0-2#DCU | #DCvRBNY — D.C. United Matchday (@DCUmatchday) February 1, 2020

After a bit of a lull in goalmouth action, United had an Emmanuel Boateng cross into the Red Bulls box that didn’t pan out, before Seitz made another save at the other end just moments later:

32' The Black-and-Red switch the field and find @Emaboateng who puts in a cross that is cleared away. 0-2#DCU | #DCvRBNY — D.C. United Matchday (@DCUmatchday) February 1, 2020

34' @Seitzy1 with a big save to his left side as he puts the ball onto the post. 0-2#DCU | #DCvRBNY — D.C. United Matchday (@DCUmatchday) February 1, 2020

United made the half’s final push, but couldn’t get themselves on the board before the halftime break.

At halftime, Olsen made numerous changes, with only three players (Seitz, Oniel Fisher, and Griffin Yow) under contract with the senior team playing the second half.

@Seitz stays in goal for the second half. 10 substitutions as the team gradually builds fitness.



Lineup: Seitz; AP, Dengler (@LoudounUnitedFC), T, Fisher; AP, T; T, Gamble (Loudoun United), Yow; Fawole



AP= Academy Player, T=Trialist — D.C. United Matchday (@DCUmatchday) February 1, 2020

The Red Bulls made wholesale changes as well, and then..well, apparently not all that much happened until the 63rd minute, when United fell further behind, conceding on a cross for the second time in the game:

63' Red Bulls score from a flicked header after a cross from the right side. 0-3#DCU | #DCvRBNY — D.C. United Matchday (@DCUmatchday) February 1, 2020

That was more or less it in terms of what we know about this game. United made at least two subs, with Loudoun United’s Ted Ku-DiPietro replacing draft pick Josh Fawole shortly after the third goal, and an unnamed academy player coming on for Michael Gamble (another Loudoun player) in the 81st minute.

United will likely hope for an improved showing later this week, as they take on USL Championship club Louisville City FC on Thursday, February 6, at the Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex in Clearwater, FL.

If highlights are made available, we’ll add them to this post.

Preseason

IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL)

D.C. United 0

New York Red Bulls 3 (Royer 11, Valot 22, Barlow 63)

Lineups:

DCU (4231): Chris Seitz; Russell Canouse (Oniel Fisher 46), Frederic Brillant (Jake Dengler 46), Steven Birnbaum (trialist 46), Chris Odoi-Atsem (academy player 46); Felipe (academy player 46), Michael Gamble (academy player 81); Julian Gressel (Griffin Yow 46), Moses Nyeman (trialist 46), Emmanuel Boateng (trialist 46); Josh Fawole (Ted Ku-DiPietro 66)

NYRB (4231): Ryan Meara; Kyle Duncan (Rece Buckmaster 46), Tim Parker, Amro Tarek, Patrick Seagrist (John Tolkin 46); Marc Rzatkowski (Chris Lema 46), Sean Davis (Jared Stroud 46); Omir Fernandez (Alex Muyl 46), Florian Valot (Ben Mines 46), Daniel Royer (Mathias Jørgensen 46); Brian White (Tom Barlow 46)

Bookings:

DCU - None mentioned

NYRB - None mentioned