A promising start for Red Bull New York ended in a disappointing loss to the Philadelphia Union.
For the second time this season, Philadelphia has beaten Red Bull and has once again done it in a 3-1 score.
For New York, walking away with a win in this game would’ve helped inch them closer to the guaranteed playoff spots for later in the season, but with this loss, they are still on track to make the MLS playoff qualifiers.
Kicking off the game, Red Bull’s Julian Hall received a through ball from Cade Cowell, but Hall was not able to convert and ended up being offside. In the next minute, once again for New York, the ball was crossed into the box by Ronald Donkor, and after a scramble in the box, Adri Mehmeti shot the ball over the net. Two huge chances for Red Bull that weren’t able to be converted, and it’s an issue that carried out for the team throughout the entire match.
Not being able to capitalize on big offensive chances, the defense was also beginning to struggle with mistakes and visible miscommunications between players. In the 20th minute, Philadelphia’s Danley Jean Jacques made a cross from the right side of the box that skimmed right past two Red Bull defenders, Justin Che and Dylan Nealis, and off a bounce ended up with Milan Iloski to tap into the goal and score Union’s first goal of the game.
Union’s goalkeeper Andre Blake had an outstanding performance in tonight’s game, including three saves on 1v1s against the Red Bull offense.
Going into the second half, the story was the same for the Red Bull. They were creating chances but failed to convert any big chances. For Union, although they were having trouble keeping possession of the ball, when they did, they were able to convert.
The second goal was scored by Cavan Sullivan on a low shot from inside the box to the bottom-left corner of the goal, his third goal of the season.
The goal by Union almost certainly secured a win for Union, who were now in control of the game with almost the entire second half left.
The third goal by Union was scored by Neil Pierre in the 65th minute, for sure putting an end to the game for Red Bull.
Through all the goals, Red Bull were finally able to convert on a single goal for the match. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who was a substitute in the second half, scored for New York.
This loss adds a 10th total loss for Red Bull New York to the season, while for the Union, it adds their sixth win of the season and brings them closer to possibly clinching a spot in the MLS Playoff Qualifiers.
For New York, their next opponent will be the Seattle Sounders in Seattle on Saturday, September 5.
For the Philadelphia Union, their next opponent will be back at home against Montreal on Saturday, September 5.
