D.C. United leaves it late again in 1-1 draw with St. Louis City SC: (delayed) Match report

The drama around soccer in the District continued Saturday, with D.C. United striking late to snatch a point in a 1-1 draw with St. Louis City SC.

United academy product Chris Durkin put the visitors ahead, but for the third time in the Black-and-Red's last five contests, a result-changing goal after the 89th minute flipped the script. This time, João Peglow's 90th-minute stunner secured a draw for the hosts.

A late red card for Conrad Wallem opened the door to a possible United winner, but Louis Munteanu's finish deep in stoppage time was chalked off after VAR intervened.

The opening stages saw both sides content to feel one another out. Kye Rowles' improvised shot while falling in the 16th minute was the first real test for either goalkeeper.

At the other end, St. Louis produced five shots from corner kicks in the first half, with four of those coming right on the doorstep. However, with D.C. contesting those efforts, the biggest test was likely a 24th-minute look from Simon Becher, who managed plenty of power on an angled shot after a fine pass from Fallou Fall broke United's lines.

Matti Peltola did well to break up a major threat after half an hour, recovering to deflect Jeong Sang-bin's shot after the South Korean attacker had feinted past Rowles on the edge of the area.

The second half proved more choppy, with an injury stoppage after a hard landing for Jackson Hopkins followed by a brief pause from VAR to examine contact between Tai Baribo and Fall inside the St. Louis box. When the game actually got flowing again, the visitors were primed and ready, producing a 50th-minute opener.

Lucas Bartlett couldn't intervene on a flick from Becher or flare wide to tackle Jeong, and after a well-executed dummy from Christian Teuchert, Durkin's shot from 19 yards had enough on it to slip through Sean Johnson's hands.

It was only the fourth time all season that City SC had opened the scoring, and that inexperience showed. United began to tilt the field with good counter-pressure and rest defense, though the final pass kept eluding the hosts.

D.C. kept knocking though. Peglow's flick-on found Jared Stroud in a promising position, and the substitute's looping delivery from the endline fell for Baribo in a perfect position. Baribo picked out the bottom corner with his 79th-minute header, but Roman Bürki produced a stellar save, leaving the Israel striker looking shocked at being denied an equalizer.

Stroud would deliver another tempting ball five minutes later, bending a cross to the back post that Louis Munteanu powered wide.

Finally, the equalizer arrived as Peglow's long-range effort finally got D.C. on the board. Stroud would again offer the service, and though Conrad Wallem would get his head to a near-post corner, Peglow took a smart touch before pinging a ball past the screened Bürki to equalize.

Wallem's night would go from bad to worse once play resumed in stoppage time, as his clumsy challenge on Peglow on the edge of the box resulted in a second booking.

Peglow's shot from the dead ball was batted away by Bürki, but the drama was hardly done. Mamadou Mbacke's shove on Bartlett caused a brief dust-up, and the resulting free kick appeared to result in a winner.

Brandon Servania's service found Bartlett for a header back across the goalmouth, and after Rowles poked it on, Munteanu arrived to chest the ball over the line to set the Chico Stand alight. However, referee Rodrigo Albuquerque was summoned to the VAR monitor, with Bartlett appearing to be a half-step offside as Servania struck the ball.

After review, United's late show was waved off, and though there was one more look — Servania's lunging attempt with the final kick of the game flew wide — the hosts could only secure a single point.

Now sitting in 8th place in the East, the Black-and-Red (4-5-5) will face one last test before the World Cup break: a contest against CF Montréal at Audi Field next Saturday, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.

Box score — MLS regular season (game 14)
5/16/2026

D.C. United 1 (Peglow 90)
St. Louis City SC 1 (Durkin 50)

Lineups:
DCU (442): Sean Johnson; Silvan Hefti, Lucas Bartlett (C), Kye Rowles, Keisuke Kurokawa (Conner Antley 78); Jackson Hopkins (Nikola Markovic 78), Matti Peltola (Jared Stroud 62), Brandon Servania, João Peglow; Tai Baribo, Louis Munteanu

St. Louis (343): Roman Bürki (C); Dante Polvara, Timo Baumgartl, Fallou Fall; Conrad Wallem, Miguel Perez (Daniel Edelman 63), Chris Durkin, Rafael Santos (Tomas Totland 78); Jeong Sang-bin (Sergio Córdova 63), Simon Becher (Mamadou Mbacke 91+), Cedric Teuchert (Eduard Löwen 63)

Bookings:
DCU - Hopkins 60, Hefti 70, Rowles 92+
St. Louis - Fall 28, Wallem 41, Perez 58, Wallem 92+ (sent off), Mbacke 95+

Referee: Rodrigo Albuquerque
Weather: Cloudy and around 77-81°, but I was not there
Attendance: 16,888

Hi everyone! Sorry this is late, but I lost my entire Sunday to a headache that I'm going to unscientifically attribute to going 3-for-3 on being assigned the middle seat on flights during my trip following the Spirit out west. I've sorted myself with some stretching and Advil, and you'll be getting your post-game reactions to the Spirit's loss in San Diego and this draw over the next couple of days.