Red Bulls advance to Round of 32 of Leagues Cup

New York Red Bulls, Professional, Soccer

August 2, 2023

Over the years, the New York Red Bulls have had major changes to their infrastructure and organization. Naturally, it takes time to develop any franchise, nevertheless the Red Bulls appear to have hit their stride late in the season. During the regular season, the Red Bulls struggled as they were dealing with off-the-field issues, that later resulted in a head coaching change midseason. Since the release of former Red Bulls head coach Gerhard Struber, interim head coach Troy Lesesne has taken over and guided the Red Bulls to 11th place in MLS.

On Sunday night, the Red Bulls took on San Luis of Liga MX to advance in the Leagues Cup tournament. Initially, the game began very intense and with high energy. In the first half, the majority of the match was consistently stagnant. However as the game progressed the energy inside of the arena continued to intensify which helped both teams as they fed off the energy.

Eventually, both teams appeared to score and naturally excite the fans, unfortunately both goals were overturned by offside penalties. At halftime, both match was scoreless, leaving room for opportunity and momentum shift later in the game.

“It was a rollercoaster of emotions, I think in the end we deserved it more, it’s not stolen from them,” Red Bulls forward Dante Vanzier stated. “It was tough, we scored at 1-0, they come back at 1-1, and if you win or lose in penalties, it was still enough. Then we got the penalty against us and just hoping for a miracle. Carlos [Coronel] had the confidence today and again saved the penalty like against New England. I think he did a great job, he gets us through the First Round of the Leagues Cup.”

Early in the second half, not much changed for either team, however momentum was beginning to be built by the Red Bulls. Later in the half, the Red Bulls fed off of the momentum and energy of the crowd and found a crease in the defense to allow Vanzier to score the first opening goal of the game.

Unfortunately, this was answered quickly by San Luis in the 90th minute to tie the game. As the game was concluding, an additional two minutes was placed on the clock within extra time, Vanzier struck for the go-ahead goal as the Red Bulls advanced to to the Round of 32 to face rival NYCFC.

“Yeah, I don't think it's our best performance but obviously we ended up top of the group,” Red Bulls captain Sean Nealis said. “That's what we want to go on into this tournament and we're on to the next round with the big derby match and I think everybody had their full belief and Carlos making that save and, and he went out and did it again and I think he's a great force back there and we're lucky to have him here. Now onto the next round like you said.”

New York Red Bulls Set to Take on Longtime Rival

The Red Bulls are set to face longtime rival New York City FC at Red Bull Arena on Thursday night at 8 p.m. This matchup is always highly anticipated, however now this will be for much more than bragging rights.

“So it's really good to play a derby, a classical one we call but it's for sure going to be an attractive game for everybody. And we are prepared to face them and we are confident that we can play our game and be the winner of this tournament.”