The New York Red Bulls climbed the MLS power rankings with their 3-2 win on Sunday against D.C. United.
The victory put the Red Bulls into a tie with D.C. United for first place in the Eastern Conference and propelled the team into the top three in most national power rankings.
SB Nation's Jeremiah Oshan ranked the Red Bulls at No. 3 and writes that he was impressed by their play on Sunday:
Even without Thierry Henry starting, still managed to mostly handle a pretty good United team.
ESPN pushed New York even higher up the board, to No. 2, acknowledging a special performance from which New York benefited against D.C. United:
Brandon Barklage dished out a serious helping of revenge against former club D.C. United, scoring two goals in a 3-2 victory. Even better, his block of a Maicon Santos shot helped preserve the win.
Avi Creditor of Sports Illustrated also placed the Red Bulls at No. 2 and believes New York's first 55 minutes against D.C. United was the best the team has played this season:
It's hard to argue with Hans Backe's assessment that the Red Bulls' first 55 minutes against D.C. were the most complete performance that they've turned in this season. Even with Thierry Henry on the bench, New York managed to bounce back from an opening-minute lapse to overrun D.C. and respond to the 4-1 shellacking it suffered at RFK Stadium in April. Scoring as many as three goals in a game is nothing new for the Red Bulls, but how about Brandon Barklage and Jan Gunnar Solli supplying all of the offense when they had combined for zero career MLS goals before Sunday?
For more on the Red Bulls, visit Once A Metro.