On Friday May 30, the New York Red Bulls II (6-2-2, 21 pts) will be looking to earn their fifth home victory of the season in as many games when they take on Atlanta United II (2-2-6, 14 pts) at MSU Soccer Park.
It just keeps getting better and better for the New York Red Bulls II, who just earned their most impressive victory of the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro season 1-0 over Columbus Crew II on the road.
With their second straight win, the Red Bulls II remain in second place in the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference standings, six points behind the conference leaders Chattanooga FC.
16-year-old Red Bulls II defender and Red Bulls academy product Matthew Dos Santos scored the winning goal off a free kick in the 89th minute. Before that game, the Crew II had not last at home.
16-year-old Red Bulls II midfielder and academy product Adri Mehmeti played all 90 minutes of that game, has started eight of the Red Bulls II’s first 10 games and contributed one goal so far this season. Mehmeti reflected on what the win meant for his team.
We had a lot of chances before the goal to be honest, a lot of chances that we could’ve put the game away early. But again, just some individual brilliance from Matty [Dos Santos], and he scored a great free kick. And again, another great team effort. Everybody was in tune. Everybody was concentrated. And we put in a great shift.
The Red Bulls II have put in great shifts in back-to-back games. Their last loss came on May 9 against rivals NYCFC II. Since then, the Red Bulls II have won two in a row, outscoring opponents 5-1.
In addition, the Red Bulls II are off to their best start through the first 10 games of a season since 2016. That year they lifted the United Soccer League (USL) Cup.
Mehmeti offered his perspective on his team’s historic start to the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro season.
It’s been a great start to the season. All the guys just been working so hard and training, competing with each other every day. The standard has been so high, and honestly, I think we deserve it. But again, there’s still a long way to go. So every week, every training, we just have to keep putting in that effort, keep going, keep competing, and then the results will come.
One of the standards that the Red Bullls II have set high this season is goal scoring as a team. Head Coach Ibrahim Sekagya’s club have scored 22 goals which is third highest in MLS NEXT Pro this season and 13 different players have scored for Red Bulls II, which is tied for the most in MLS NEXT Pro.
When asked about this, Sekagya stressed that this feat has been due to the unity of his team.
The message we give them is it’s a team effort. It doesn’t matter who scores, but the most important to get the results. It doesn’t matter the moment, the positioning, the guys, where they are, if they see one that is in a good position, they do that. We are not focusing on who has to score more goals. It is about the team getting proper, how we want to be, what we want exactly, the way how we play is the most important. And then, when the chance comes, it has been good to see each player get the chance to have some goals.
Their opponent on Friday, Atlanta United II have scored 17 goals as a team which is the eighth-most in MLS NEXT Pro this season.
The Red Bulls II have won three of their four all-time meetings with Atlanta United II in MLS NEXT Pro. The Red Bulls II have also not been shutout in those prior meetings and have outscored Atlanta United II 12-5. Couple that with the fact that this match is at home where Red Bulls II are 4-0 this season and the Red Bulls II will be eager to continue their great form against Atlanta United II and at home this season.
Coach Sekagya described what’s behind his team’s stellar form on their home turf this season.
This is the thing which we struggled with last year, being consistent at home and to play well, I think the team is learning. We are still learning. There’s some new guys coming in. They are learning the style of play. But the most important, as I said, as long as we are together these things work properly, and you can see the players the way how they are playing, the way, not just in the field, outside of the field. You can see in the training. We see them every day outside, that togetherness [has] been built up proper, and they are doing it well.
In terms of how Red Bulls II match up with Atlanta United II, the cerebral young midfielder, Mehmeti shed some light on what his team needs to do to be successful.
They’re a team that plays like Columbus, like similar to them. They want to keep the ball. So I think just trying to press them as much as we can and win the ball high up and then go to goal from there. That’s going to be something key that we need to do and not let them break up our press.
We will see if the Red Bulls II can make it three straight wins when they host their rivals from Georgia on Friday.
Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. ET with coverage available on Apple TV – MLS Season Pass.
