A Five-Goal Second Half Earns Red Bull Their First Win Since May
- Daniel Rebain
- Jul 16
- 8 min read
Updated: Jul 18
Photo credit: New York Red Bulls PR
Harrison, NJ — Winless in their last five games, the New York Red Bulls returned to Sports Illustrated Stadium for the first time since June 28th to take on the visiting New England Revolution.
New York struggled out of the gates once again, but five second-half goals would lift the Red Bulls to a 5-2 victory. Head coach Sandro Schwarz called the second half a "great response from the guys."
"Their behavior, always to believe in the second half, was very important for the whole group. We can learn a lot, and now everyone is talking about the second half. But I, too, can learn a lot from the first half, and when we feel free and are mentally ready, we have the quality, which is good. And then also that today we had this feeling to come back like we did in the second half, it was great."
Both of New York's designated players shinnied in the second 45 minutes, with Emil Forsberg and Eric Choupo-Moting each getting on the scoresheet twice. But it was a goal from defensive midfielder Daniel Edelman that sparked the team's turnaround.
Edelman's goal in the 56th minute sparked a chain of events that resulted in five goals in 31 minutes. Choupo talked about the whole team taking "responsibility" and the need for the players around both superstars to contribute.
"Emil and I have a lot of experience, and we give our best every time, but we need the rest of the team as well. I couldn’t score without the great work from Ronnie [Donkor], for example, on the first goal. And, of course, the pass from Emil. It's all about teamwork at the end of the day."
The comeback victory for Schwarz marked the team's first three points since May 31st, when they knocked off Atlanta United 2-0 at home.
Both teams came into Wednesday night at Sports Illustrated Stadium winless in their last five games. Something had to give, with both teams fighting for one of the last playoff spots in the Eastern Conference with 12 games left in the league season. Unfortunately, for Sandro Schwarz and his coaching staff, the team got off to another slow start, and New England made New York pay.
Like in the reverse fixture up in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the Revolution would get on the board first. A Sean Nealis slide tackle was successful in depossessing the New England attacker. Still, the loose ball fell right to Leo Campana outside the penalty box, and the Ecuadorian striker made no mistake, giving the guests a very early 1-0 advantage in the 5th minute.
"I said in the locker room directly after the game, I am responsible for the first half, that's clear, said Schwarz. "It was not a tactical point in the first half, but everyone could feel it; that we were not free from the mental side, and we were not aggressive enough, and we dropped back."
You could see early on that Red Bull struggled to break down New England, despite their overwhelming possession in the Revolution's third of the field.
Tensions in the stadium continued to rise when New England seemed to double their lead. On a Carles Gil corner kick, Campana ended up poking the ball past Carlos Coronel for his second goal in just 20 minutes. However, the goal was eventually ruled out by VAR, due to the ball striking Campana in the arm, allowing him to settle the ball down in the box before the goal.
The goal was ruled out and the score remained at 1-0, but this was a sign of things to come for Red Bull the rest of the first half.
In the 30th minute, the Revolution would officially take a 2-0 lead. A seemingly harmless pass into the Red Bull box wasn't dealt with, and Luca Langoni would pounce on the opportunity. Langoni hit the left post, but the rebound bounced off of a recovering Kyle Duncan and past Noah Eile, who was attempting to clear the ball off the goal line.
Things were getting ugly in Harrison, as for the second consecutive game, the Red Bulls trailed 2-0 after 30 minutes of play. The team was even booed off the field at halftime.
The second half would spark some life into the Red Bulls and the crowd, thanks to some luck of their own that saw Daniel Edelman get the home side on the board in the 56th minute.
Ronald Donkor was quick to a loose ball in the box, and a first-time pass to a waiting Edleman gave the defensive midfielder enough space to get a shot off. That shot would get through the initial line of New England defenders, and luckily for Edelman, would redirect off Keegan Hughes and past Aljaz Ivacic, who could only watch the ball roll past him and over the goal line.
"I think immediately we had a lot of energy right after the goal, said Edelman. " They thought the game was over, and all our halftime talk was that, just keep believing we're still in this game, and we want to keep pushing. It was tough to give up two early on, but we were relentless in the second half."
That goal changed the whole momentum of the game for New York, according to striker Eric Choupo-Moting. "The first goal from Eddie was very important," said Choupo. "It was the first sign to show mentality, first, because the first half was not good at all, and especially at home. We had in our mind a different start."
From that point on, Red Bull was clicking on all cylinders, and they would score a beautiful equalizer in the 70th minute.
The play started with Mohammed Sofo winning a 50/50 challenge with Will Sands down the right wing. With possession, Sofo turned back to the top of the box, and his pass to the middle of the field found Ronald Donkor, who was able to "chop" a backheel pass to a waiting Emil Forsberg.
From there, the captain made it look simple, selling he was going to shoot, but instead laid a pass off to a lurking Choupo to bring New York back level at 2-2.
The Red Bulls kept their foot on the gas and would take the lead just two minutes later when Forsberg took over the game.
A player who had one of his better games of the season Wednesday night was Dennis Gjengaar. Coming on the field in the 71st minute, the Norwegian was heavily active down the right wing and contributed multiple times in the New England penalty box.
Gjengaar picked up a ball on the right side of the box from Julian Hall and sent a pass to the captain, who opened up towards Gjengaar. Forsberg received the ball and turned toward the middle of the field. Taking a deliberate heavy touch, Forsberg was able to create enough separation and rifle home a left-footed shot past a diving Aljaz Ivacic.
For the first time in over a month and a half, the New York Red Bulls carried a lead past the 75th minute of a game.
"We were just playing free, not worrying about mistakes," said Edelman. "We built off the momentum, and you could see that."
New York would make it 4-2 with a well-executed counterattack. Forsberg hit a perfectly placed first-time pass into the box with his left foot to find a sprinting Dennis Gjengaar. His diving attempt would be saved by Ivacic, but the play was still alive.
Ronald Donkor picked up the rebound and, with his head up, played a pass to a charging Choupo-Moting at the penalty spot. Choupo, with his sliding effort, was able to get the ball just past the outstretched arm of Ivacic to grab his second goal of the game and his 13th this season.
One player who elevated their game in the second half was Ghanaian midfielder Ronald Donkor. "Ronnie [Donkor] was incredible in the second half," said Daniel Edelman.
Donkor has struggled to find a foothold in the team after establishing himself as a reliable squad member, but Wednesday showed that when Donkor is on his game, he can be a real difference-maker for Sando Schwarz.
"In the second half, he [Donkor] was top, said Schwarz. "As an eight and as a six in our buildup. The connection to feel free in our forward defending, to feel free when we lose the ball, not to think too much about mistakes. Today he was ready, and he showed his quality."
The Red Bull would cap off their offensive breakout when Julian Hall drew a penalty in the 87th minute. Hall was able to time his run in behind the Revolution defense and beat Keegan Hughes inside before being tackled to the ground. It was not a good game for the New England center back.
Emil Forsberg stepped up to the spot and converted to make it 5-2, Red Bull to grab a brace of his own. The goal would mark Forsberg's second goal from the penalty spot this season and take his season total up to nine in league play.
"It was good to see that we wanted more. We wanted to get that third, fourth, fifth," said Daniel Edelman on the Red Bulls continuing to build their lead. "Five goals in the second half is crazy. That's something that doesn't happen for us often."
Choupo-Moting had a chance to grab his first hat trick as a Red Bull but was unable to capitalize. Just before stoppage time, Raheem Edwards triggered a counterattack with the ball making its way to Dennis Gjengaar down the right wing. Gjengaar, with time and space, crossed the ball to Choupo at the back post, and with an open net, the Red Bulls' leading goal scorer skied a scissors kick over the crossbar.
Leo Campana did eventually get a brace in this game when he scored in the 93rd minute on a missplayed pass from Alexander Hack to make it 5-3, but it wouldn't be enough as referee Sergii Boiko blew his whistle for full time.
"The second half was very, very good. And we had so many good moments, not only the goals, but also the way we created the goals, the mentality we showed."
With this comeback for Red Bull, it's the first time since May 31st against Atlanta United that the team earned a victory and picked up a crucial three points. This win sees Red Bull own the third-best home record in MLS with eight wins and just one loss in 11 games at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
They'll look to build on that momentum as Lionel Messi and Inter Miami come to town Saturday night for their annual trip to the state of New Jersey. In the reverse fixture back in early May, New York took a beating, which saw both Messi and Luis Suarez score on the night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 PM.
Match Facts
New York Red Bulls: 4-2-3-1 (HC: Sandro Schwarz)
Carlos Coronel (GK): Omar Valencia, Noah Eile, Sean Nealis, Kyle Duncan; Ronald Donkor, Daniel Edelman; Mohammed Sofo, Emil Forsberg, Wiki Carmona; Eric Choupo-Moting
Bench: Wiktor Bogacz, Julian Hall, Dennis Gjengaar, Peter Stroud, Alexander Hack, Tim Parker, Raheem Edwards, Dylan Nealis, A.J. Marcucci
New England: 4-2-3-1 (HC: Caleb Porter)
Aljaz Ivacic (GK): Tanner Beason, Keegan Hughes, Brayan Ceballos, Brandon Bye; Matthew Polster, Alhassan Yusuf; Peyton Miller, Carles Gil, Luca Langoni; Leo Campana
Bench: Tomas Chancaly, Maxi Urruti, Luis Diaz, Jackson Yueill, Ilya Feingold, Wyatt Omsberg, Will Sands, Andrew Farrell, Alex Bono
Scoring Summary (New York/New England)
5': Leo Campana (0-1)
30': Kyle Duncan Own Goal (0-2)
56': Daniel Edelman (1-2)
70': Eric Choupo-Moting (2-2)
72': Emil Forsberg (3-2)
83': Eric Choupo-Moting (4-2)
88' (PK): Emil Forsberg (5-2)
90+3': Leo Campana (5-3)
Stats (New York/New England)
Possession: 58% - 42%
Shots: 21 (8) - 13 (6)
Big Chances: 6 - 4
Expected Goals (xG): 3.56 - 2.29
Passing: 456 (88%) - 310 (84%)
Fouls: 17 - 13
Corners: 3 - 4
Discipline
45+4': Leo Campana (Yellow)
54': Wiki Carmona (Yellow)
76': Noah Eile (Yellow)
87': Keegan Hughes (Yellow)
90+5': Luis Diaz (Yellow)
