Three last-ditch clearances from defenders Thiago Martins, Justin Che and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty made sure the first regular season Hudson River derby of the 2026 Major League Soccer (MLS) season ended in a 1-1 draw.
Both Red Bull New York (RBNY) and New York City Football Club (NYCFC) came into this derby at Sports Illustrated Stadium Saturday tied on points in the standings with 18 each.
The hosts wasted no time creating their first scoring chance when the ball bounced over to RBNY captain Emil Forsberg inside NYCFC’s 18-yard box and he took a shot on the ground that was rolling into the bottom right corner before it was blocked by a sliding NYCFC captain Thiago Martins in the eighth minute.
After the first 10 minutes where NYCFC dominated possession, Michael Bradley’s Baby Bulls grew into the game and started to control the flow with pressing which kept NYCFC from mounting much of an attack.
In the 22nd minute, RBNY defender Marshall-Rutty and NYCFC midfielder Agustin Ojeda both went for a ball that was coming at them at waist-height and collided. After the collision, Marshall-Rutty said something to Ojeda who had stayed down on the ground and all the players on the field came together for a scrum. Each team was given one yellow card each; one to Marshall-Rutty, the other to Raul Gustavo.
RBNY got the game’s first clear-cut scoring chance in the 31st minute. RBNY rookie Adri Mehmeti drove the play deeper into NYCFC’s half with a pass to Julian Hall, who one-touch passed to Forsberg. Forsberg then played Ronald Donkor into the 18-yard box 1-on-1 with NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese, but Donkor’s first touch got away from him and Freese rushed off his line and smothered his shot.
The derby flipped on its head when Maxi Moralez had to be carted off the field after suffering an injury when challenging for the ball against Che. Andrés Perea subbed into the game to replace NYCFC’s longest-tenured player and leader in assists this season.
RBNY forward and designated player Jorge Ruvalcaba scored his fifth goal of the season when he followed up a ground cross made by Cade Cowell that was missed by Freese and smashed the loose ball into a wide open net and the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the 43rd minute.
When the two teams returned to the field for the second half, NYCFC manager Pascal Jansen had made his second substitution, taking off Hannes Wolf for Malachi Jones. Jones wasted no time putting a scare into the hosts when he dribbled along the edge of the RBNY box and unleashed a right-footed strike that sailed just over the bar in the 46th minute.
The visitors tied the game in the 52nd minute when a free kick was crossed into the 18-yard box by NYCFC’s leading scorer Nicolas Fernandez and headed into the far side of the net by Perea. The goal was Perea’s first of the season and Fernandez’s fourth assist in addition to being the fourth set-piece goal that NYCFC had scored against Red Bull this season.
NYCFC nearly took the lead in the 55th minute. Perea sent a long through ball behind RBNY’s backline for Jones. RBNY goalkeeper Ethan Horvath slid to grab the ball but bobbled it. The ball popped up for Jones who could only manage a weak shot while falling backwards, but his shot was going in before RBNY center back Justin Che slid and cleared the ball nearly off the goal-line.
Bradley made three subs in the 69th minute, bringing on veteran Tim Parker for Che at center back, Omar Valencia for Matthew Dos Santos at left-back and Gustav Berggren for Forsberg at left-center midfield.
Shortly after, NYCFC earned another free kick down the right wing inside RBNY’s half of the field. Horvath came out to punch Fernandez’s cross away but missed the ball. It bounced off the ground and hit the far post before rebounding off Marshall-Rutty’s face. Then the Canadian homegrown player reacted quickly clearing the ball away and out of danger to help thwart the visitors once more.
The last genuine scoring chance of the game came off the foot of Mehmeti in the 77th minute. RBNY earned a free kick about 25 yards away from goal. Cowell sent a curving cross that took one bounce before Mehmeti connected with it, giving it a slight touch with his left foot and sending it off the bar and out of play.
In the 81st minute, the visitors put one last scare into the home crowd at Sports Illustrated, when Nico Cavallo found Jones in front of RBNY’s goal but the latter shot it just wide of the left post.
After this, there were some more chippy moments like when Berggren crowded Freese after the latter had picked up the ball inside the box and Freese dipped his shoulder into Berggren sending him down to the ground, which attracted players from both sides for a confrontation, but the game had little more to offer and ended in a 1-1 stalemate.
Some positives for RBNY to takeaway from this game are that center back Justin Che made his third straight appearance and first start since March 14 and contributed with a goal-line clearance. The other is Horvath made five saves which ties his career-high in MLS play. Also, this was recent transfer defender Julian Bazan’s first game available to play for the first team as he sat on the bench.
During the post-game press conference, RBNY head coach Michael Bradley spoke about the positives he took away from his young team drawing with their bitter rivals in one of the team’s last games before the World Cup break.
“We step on the field to play our football, to try to put the game on our terms, to be the team that can control the ball, to be the team that can play with the ball in the attacking part of the field, we try to be a team that is going to press as high as possible that can win balls back quickly, that is hard to play against and I thought what you see tonight is growth and maturity of the team, and so we have to continue to go in that direction.” – RBNY head coach Michael Bradley
As a result of this draw, Red Bull New York are now on a three-game unbeaten streak and sixth place in MLS’s Eastern Conference.
Next week, they will face Sporting Kansas City on the road on Saturday May 23 in their final game before MLS goes on a seven-week break for this summer’s FIFA World Cup.
