Returning home to RBA after a dismal showing where they did not show up against Charlotte last week, Red Bull was in for a critical week in their schedule. First, they would face Toronto, before hosting rivals NYCFC in the US Open Cup Round of 16 & flying out the west to take on LAFC next weekend.
But first up on their plate this week facing Toronto, Red Bull needed a big bounce-back performance after a bad loss, and they delivered, getting goals from Lewis Morgan & Luquinhas in a solid 2-0 performance.
With the victory, Red Bull improves their record to 7-5-4, 26 PTS, and moves into a tie for first place with those same rivals from across the river that they will be playing midweek (NYC has three games in hand).
After starting the season 0-3-2 at Red Bull Arena, New York has now won consecutive games in front of the home fans for the first time this Calander year.
For Red Bull, this game could be looked at as one of the more "complete" games they have played all season, playing the game they wanted to play in each phase of the field. The only thing that lacked at times for Red Bull was the finished product, but that is expected when you don't start a true number nine.
Here's how Gerhard Struber lined up. Pretty much a "first XI" for Struber as Aaron Long returned from international duty with the USMNT. The only player missing is Patryk Klimala who was suspended for one match due to his challenge on Charlotte GK.
Red Bull got off to their customary fast start to open up the game, even earning a corner in the opening minute of the match.
Things would grow from good to GREAT off that corner as John Tolkin whipped a ball off the corner, finding the head of Morgan to put Red Bull up 1-0 just 2' into the game.
Scoring early has been a difficult task for Red Bull, something New York has struggled with all season, but today, Red Bull was able to find that breakthrough needed to get the crowd into the game early on.
For Morgan, it was his fourth goal of the season against Toronto this season, adding to his three-piece he handed Toronto up in Canada on MD2.
Minutes later though in the 5', goalkeeper Carlos Coronel was called into action to keep Red Bull's early lead intact, making a huge save on the young Jayden Nelson after he was played through on goal by way of playmaker Alejandro Pozuelo.
Red Bull looked to double their lead through today's makeshift striker Omir Fernandez.
Fernandez early and often was able to sneak in-behind Toronto's defense of Carlos Salcedo & Shane O'Neil with his quick burst of pace but was not able to get a shot on target or find one of his teammates in the box for a scoring opportunity.
Coronel would be called into action once again to bail out his defense, this time as Toronto led a 4v3 counterattack with Jesus Jimenez being played in behind the defense.
The Brazilian keeper again made a 1v1 save, rushing the attacker before he could really get a shot off, forcing Jimenez to shoot the ball right into his chest and out of danger in the 8'.
End-to-end stuff to open up the game from both teams.
But as they have done so much this season, Red Bull, while dominating play in the early portion of the match, couldn't keep their foot on the gas and find a second or a third goal, letting Toronto build into the game as time wore on.
Toronto after absorbing some of this Red Bull attack was able to get off some clear scoring chances for themselves. Both Ayo Akinola (20') & Jayden Nelson (23') were able to free themselves up for a shot from just inside the box, but luckily for Red Bull, both went wide of Coronel's left post.
https://twitter.com/NewYorkRedBulls/status/1538307758856015873?s=20&t=djdtbwi4A9eWDWZTWTl3qA
The next couple of minutes started to get a little scrappy for both teams.
In the 26', Dylan Nealis was able to beat Toronto's press with some quick feet and after releasing the ball, Akinola stomped on his ankle taking his cleat off and keeping the younger Nealis brother down for a bit.
Then in the 31', Toronto CB Shane O'Neil tackled Luquinhas out of bounds, leaving the Red Bull midfielder in pain on the sideline. Both incidents drew a yellow card from the official.
The last attacking opportunity for Red Bull in the first half came in the 36' when Dylan Nealis attacked the byline and floated a cross to Tolkin at the back post, but the Chatham native was not able to get his volley attempt on frame, as his shot fluttered harmlessly out of bounds.
Back to the defensive side of the ball. The trio of Aaron Long, Sean Nealis & Tom Edwards are so intertwined with each other on the backline that anytime there is a breakdown or counterattack (like in the 41'), they are able to put out the fire and clear the danger.
Not many MLS sides can say that about their backline and the stats back that up.
As the halftime whistle blew, Toronto led the possession battle with 60% of the ball, but it was Red Bull who were able to find the back of the net and looked to be the more dangerous side in the first half, though shots were even at five a piece.
For your halftime amusement, enjoy this cute little video of a young fan waving a Red Bull flag that is almost the same size as him.
https://twitter.com/NewYorkRedBulls/status/1538311313201451011?s=20&t=HIfkVA-Lkp8N3GzQdahkLA
Returning back to the action, Gerhard Struber was looking for some more "Red Bull Energy" and decided that fan-favorite Tom Barlow was the player Red Bull needed in the second 45'.
Omir Fernandez came off as New York looked to get a more traditional number nine in the attack.
It did not take long to see that decision pay dividends for Struber as Red Bull found their second goal of the game by way of a GOALAZO coming off the foot of Luquinhas, of course, as he chipped Toronto's keeper.
The whole play was created by Cristian Casseres Jr when he played Barlow in behind the Toronto defense with an outrageous over-the-top through ball.
After Quentin Westberg was able to save Barlow's initial shot, the ball fell right into the path of the oncoming Luquinhas, who was able to lob both the keeper & the defender who tried to clear the ball off the line for a goal-of-the-week caliber type finish.
Things would then heat up again after Carlos Salcedo and Lewis Morgan went up for a header and the defender blatantly elbowed Lewis in the back of the head, earning the Mexican a yellow in the 61'.
But then Gerhard Struber got involved, yelling at Salcedo gesturing the said elbow, the Toronto defender returned the favor with a "shush".
It escalated, even more, when former Red Bull and current Toronto captain Michael Bradley verbally challenged Struber, telling the Red Bull manager to basically "be quiet", but Struber would not back down from the fight as he came to the defense of his boy. Things thankfully eventually died down.
Just two minutes later in the 63', it seemed like Tom Barlow would repay his mangers trust in him with a sublime goal off a header, but alas the play was called offsides in the buildup, keeping Red Bull's lead at just two.
Toronto would get another good look at the goal, but again their shot was put wide; the story of the game for this Toronto team.
Red Bull would change things up late in the game to give both Aaron Long & John Tolkin some rest as they look towards NYCFC midweek with Cameron Harper (77') & Jason Pendant (81') coming onto the field with some fresh legs; great call from Gerhard.
But Red Bull wasn't fully out of danger yet. Jacob Shaffelburg was able to get in behind the New York defense as an over-the-top ball was played right onto this foot. And for the third time in the game, Carlos Coronel was 1v1 with a Toronto attacker, all three times making the save to keep the clean sheet alive in the 82'
Carlos Coronel might go down as one of the most important signings in recent memory for Red Bull as Coronel has emerged as arguably a top-5 keeper in all of MLS.
After four minutes of added time, the referee blew his whistle one last time, and Red Bull would go home happy with a 2-0 victory, their second straight win at Red Bull Arena.
To go along with the victory, Carlos Coronel earned himself his third clean sheet of the season with his MOTM performance making three key saves to keep Toronto off the scoreboard.
Post-game, Gerhard Struber liked how the boys played but said we need to keep up the pressure and not let off the gas when we have an opponent on the ropes.
"We cannot be inefficient, in the first 20 minutes it was this. We needed to score more goals. It's not so easy to find good pressure against them. Again, we have to score quicker and more efficiently in the first 20 minutes".
Talking about the "striker-less" formation Red Bull play with today, it was pretty simple in Struber's eyes. "It was a special situation. Patryk Klimala was suspended. Tom Barlow just had baby twins and wasn't involved in many training sessions. Tom was involved in the second goal, the twins give him power. We have to be flexible in our setup".
But he also gave us a little nugget when looking forward to the summer transfer window. "We have a small roster. The expectations are growing. We have the transfer window to do something". So keep an eye on my Twitter as we creep closer to the opening of the summer transfer window starting July 1st
When Lewis Morgan entered the conference room, he had a smile on his face and the first thing he said was, "Naturally, it's a good atmosphere in the locker room. A bad result last week, we stressed to get a result this week. We need to make this place a fortress"
Morgan has scored eight goals this season, if you include the one in Open Cup, and talking about his goal in the 2' Morgan was all praise for the crosser off the corner John Tolkin. "It was a great set-piece from JMi. I want to be involved. It's something we've been working on, I may not be the biggest but it's something I like to add to my game".
Luquhinas has looked dominant since his move from Legia Warsaw in Poland to MLS, scoring his 6G in all competitions this season and the Brazilian says that comes down to the "space" he has here in the US. "What I'm seeing here is a lot more space. In Poland it was more physical. The space here has allowed me to create chances for the team".
He is also looking forward to playing NYC midweek, as this is the first time he will be playing in the Hudson River Derby. Talking about the mindset he has prepared for these types of games, Luquhinas said, "I have played big games back in Poland. We understand how much this game means to everyone. We're hoping to become a winner this week"
Red Bull has now set themselves up well, jumping to the top of the Eastern Conference alongside their powder blue brothers from the City.
Now with the weekend behind us, Red Bull looks toward facing NYC in the US Open Cup, with the winner advancing to the Quarterfinals of the tournament.
Red Bull has won three of the previous five matchups with NYC, losing once along with a 1-1 draw on the other two occasions, but you can throw out records when it comes to "one & done" games in the Open Cup.
Red Bull has had great success against NYC in Red Bull Arena since the powder blue's inception in 2015 and looks to keep that success going as Red Bull has its eyes set on a deep run in the US Open Cup, hoping to lift its first major trophy in club history.
Now it's rivalry week! See you Wednesday night! #NYisRED
https://youtu.be/f3nR-wMvSZU
Match Stats
Final Score: NY 2, TFC 0
Possession: NY 41%, TFC 59%
Shots (On Goal): NY 14 (4), TFC 8 (3)
Fouls: NY 18, TFC 11
Corners: NY 5, TFC 4
Saves: NY 3, TFC 3
Next Game: June 22nd, vs New York City FC 8:00 PM EST (US Open Cup)
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