De Rosario's Goal Lifts DC United Past Red Bulls
HARRISON, N.J. (AP) — Dwayne De Rosario had a memorable return to Red Bull Arena.
De Rosario, playing against his former team for the first time since being traded on June 27, scored in the 61st minute to lift D.C. United to a 1-0 win over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night.
De Rosario juked past Roy Miller before slamming a left-footed shot from the box past goalkeeper Greg Sutton. It was De Rosario's fourth goal of the season and his first in two games since the trade.
"It's never easy to come back to a team you played for. Scoring against them felt great," De Rosario said before admitting he was looking forward to the match. "For sure. 100 percent. You just want to do what you can to show what they gave up."
De Rosario went on to say he had spoken with Red Bulls management regarding a new contract before he left to play for Canada in the Gold Cup last month. He returned to New York after Canada was eliminated from the tournament on June 14. When asked if he had spoken to United about a deal, he professed that he just wanted "to play."
Bill Hamid had four saves for United (5-5-7), which was 1-1-6 in its previous eight games.
"What we've been striving to do is stay compact. We did a good job today," Hamid said. "The chemistry is there. You can see it. We came today to play."
Sutton finished with two saves for the Red Bulls (6-4-10), who had won four of their last five.
The Red Bulls had a clear ball possession advantage in the opening minutes, but were unable to create high-quality scoring chances. Despite having outshot United 9-5 in the first half, it was D.C. that had the best scoring chance. Charlie Davies sprinted past a sliding Sutton in the 44th minute but had his scoring chance nullified by a spectacular diving deflection by Tim Ream.
"We looked a little fatigued," Red Bulls coach Hans Backe said. "No excuses. We shouldn't have any problem to play Wednesday-Saturday as a professional."
United players noted that they had observed New York's mounting frustration as the match progressed.
"We kept the ball today. We played really well. They really weren't dangerous," Davies said. "Of course they were going to be frustrated."
Davies and New York's Roy Miller each were assessed yellow cards for an incident the 85th minute. Davies shoved Miller towards the bench after the ball went out of play. Miller turned around and shoved Davies before being restrained by an official and United midfielder Fred.
"Just soccer. It's the game," Davies said.
