CINCINNATI, OHIO – Red Bull New York (3-4-3, 12 pts) continued their frustrating stretch of results with a 2-0 loss to FC Cincinnati (3-4-3, 12 pts) Saturday. This was the second meeting of the season between the two Eastern Conference foes.
Luck was not on the side of New York Saturday night in “the Queen City.” Even before kickoff, Red Bull were dealt unfortunate news in regards to their starting eleven.
Forward Eric Choupo-Moting, who was originally included in the starting eleven, was removed due to an illness. As a result, Julian Zakrzewski Hall started once again in what was a heavily rotated lineup.
With matches coming at a rapid rate, head coach Michael Bradley tried to insert some wrinkles to the lineup to help them earn their first league victory since April 4. Coincidentally, New York’s last league victory came against Cincinnati on home soil.
Included in the starting eleven Saturday was veteran center-back Tim Parker. Notably, defender Joyeux Masanka Bungi earned his first start in Major League Soccer (MLS) and well, it was disappointing.
Luck was certainly not on the side of the young defender from Belgium. Bungi’s first half was unappealing and to most vocal fans, it was simply bad.
Bungi was responsible for allowing both goals to Cincinnati late in the first half. To make it worse, Bungi squandered both goals to Cincinnati’s leading goal scorer, Kévin Denkey.
Denkey’s first goal arrived in the 40th minute off a great assist from Pavel Bucha to make the score 1-0. Later, near the end of added time in the first half, Cincinnati star Evander was fouled by Bungi, leading to a penalty kick. There, Denkey stepped up and placed the kick past Red Bull goalkeeper Ethan Horvath to earn the brace and make it 2-0.
Attacking wise, Red Bull had their moments to score. In the 36th minute, midfielder Gustav Berggren had an incredible chance to give New York a 1-0 lead. Sadly for the Swedish midfielder, he was unable to convert.
The second half, however, did see Red Bull have moments where scoring was possible. But, to continue on the trend of luck, New York had none.
Subbing on for Bungi to begin the second half, defender Matthew Dos Santos was extremely close to handing New York their first goal of the night. On a free kick in the 60th minute, Dos Santos’ kick hit the post and kept the score at 2-0.
Then, in the 65th minute, after subbing on three minutes prior, designated player Jorge Ruvalcaba blasted a shot that soared high of the goal. The score remained 2-0 Cincinnati.
Despite a valiant second half effort on the attack, there was no good fortunes to be found for New York.
“The response in the second half was excellent,” Bradley said postmatch on Saturday. “That was us. We pushed the game in every way. Football was really good, pushed them back, counter pressed well, made chances, and kept doing it over and over again.”
Red Bull will now move on to Wednesday’s contest where they will face their local rivals in New York City FC in the U.S. Open Cup. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on Paramount+ and CBS Sports Network.
