Rooney received a straight red after a video review, as he was deemed to have elbowed Red Bulls midfielder Cristian Casseres Jr in the neck.
As the two were jostling for position while Rooney defended a corner after just 24 minutes, he moved his right arm across his body before slamming himself into Casseres Jr.
With DCU 1-0 down at the time to their MLS Eastern Conference rivals, the game was made even harder for them with Rooney’s red card.
They went on to level the game up in the second half, before conceding a second goal just five minutes later.
Rooney is approaching the end of his time in America, just over a year after he made the switch stateside.
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The English forward has agreed a deal to join Derby County in January, cutting his time in MLS short.
And after the red card, fans suspected that he was acting like a man who couldn’t wait to leave.
“There’s a guy who can’t wait for his last day,” one tweeted.
“Rooney has had enough of MLS and you can’t blame him,” another posted.
One wrote: “Leaving MLS in style.”
One fan joked: “Congratulations, Derby County.”
“Man’s just counting his days until he gets out of DC,” another tweeted.
One fed up fan wrote: “That inner thug is never far below the surface with Rooney.”
Rooney went on a furious rant against Major League Soccer officials over the weekend, after finding fault with the fact that MLS teams are only allowed private planes for three games per season.
He tweeted: “Gutted about result last night. We deserved more. Looking forward to a 12 hour travel day which could be done in 6 but hey this is mls. We will get ready for red bulls Wednesday. #Charterflights #msl.”