Saturday, July 3rd was a crucial Major League Soccer (MLS) Rivalry game between Red Bull and Orlando. Gerhard Struber's Red Bulls scored within the first ten minutes of the game and earned their First Road victory of the 2021 MLS season.
Orlando City have been in second-place in Eastern Conference all season. Coming into this game the home team only had two losses. One of those losses came against Red Bull in late MAY at Red Bull Arena.
Here were the Starting Elevens for City and Red Bull on Saturday.
- New York Red Bulls
- GK- Carlos Colonel
- DEF- Duncan, CB Edwards-Nealis, Tolkin
- MID- Davis- Yearwood
- Att Mids: Casseres Jr. - Carmona
- FWD- Klimala / Fabio
Fabio has played in all but one of New York's 12 games. He leads the team in Assists with five. The last time Red Bulls played Orlando City, Christian Casseres Jr. scored the Red Bulls' opening goal.
- Orlando City
- GK- Austin
- DEF- Halliday- Carlos- Janson- Smith
- MID- Perea- Urso-
- Pereyra- Nani- Mueller
- FWD- Daryl Dike
Former Portuguese International, Nani came into tonight's game, leading City in goals (Six) and being tied for the fourth-most in MLS in goals with three others (Gustavo Bou, Alan Pulido, and Maximiliano Urruti).
First Half in Florida
New York scored first in this game. It was midfielder Christian Casseres Jr. who received a good pass from Polish forward, Patryk Klimala on the edge of City's 18-yard-box. Casseres Jr. made a quick cut inside to his left and let go a curving shot that beat the goalkeeper and gave Red Bull the first goal just seven minutes inside the first half.
Todo lo que remata lo está convirtiendo en oro, FENÓMENO @Casseres23 #RojoxSiempre #PoderVinotinto🇻🇪 pic.twitter.com/itrdc8klzu
— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) July 3, 2021
Before this game there had been questions from MSG Networks color commentator, Shep Messing, who a former pro goalkeeper himself, had questioned why Colonel kept being Head Coach Struber's first-choice in net over Ryan Meara. However, after this great performance on the road, who could argue with Struber that Colonel was the right man for the job?
In the 15th minute, Orlando City SC's midfielder, Chris Mueller, got the ball on the edge of the box and unleashed a left-footed shot that, saved by Carlos Colonel.
42nd minute: OC awarded Penalty for Foul on Tom Edwards (NY)
Orlando's best goal-scorer coming in was Nani. However, midfielder Mauricio Pereyra was given the responsibility to score this penalty. Pereyra chose to shoot with the side of his foot, and placed his shot all the way to the left, inside the right post. However, side-footing the shot gave goalkeeper, Carlos Colonel time to dive to his left and punch the ball out of bounds, to keep Red Bull out in front.
The second half ended with TEAM STATS of Possession and shots-on-goal being even. Red Bulls took a 1-0 lead in to half-time in hostile environment.
An Exciting Second Half in Florida
In the 55th minute, Orlando City's Daryl Dike dribbled on one-on-one with Colonel. The opposing goalkeeper rushed him and closed down his angle and made a clutch save with his legs to keep Red Bull in front. However, the Red Bulls slim lead on the road would not last much longer.
59' Red Bulls defense made a blunder and gave Orlando the equalizer. Red Bulls center-back Sean Nealis had played well all night but then he was stripped of the ball in his own half by Daryl Dike, who passed it on to Pereyra. He passed it on to Mueller, who slotted the ball into the upper right corner of the net and tied the game at one.
As the Red Bulls offense looked for the go-ahead goal at Exploria Stadium, it would have to come from either of their strikers.
In the 71st minute, Red Bull midfielder Frankie Amaya made a great pass across the Orlando box to Klimala who took a hard low shot that rolled just wide of City's net. Five minutes later, 'Patty' found was dribbling inside the box and released the same hard, low shot with his right foot and again it went just wide of the net!
The Red Bulls Breakthrough
The Red Bulls would get their all-important go-ahead goal in the 78th minute. It was a great team effort as Yearwood dribbled the ball deep into Orlando City territory and made a good pass to Klimala, who was posted up against an Orlando City defender. Klimala managed to make a back-heel pass to Fabio, who was striding down the center of the Orlando City box. He stopped, watched as an Orlando defender fell down and took a right-footed shot that hit the back of the net and gave the Red Bulls a 2-1 lead.
The game-winner! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Iut3SiaYnt
— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) July 4, 2021
Red Bulls were clearly the more aggressive team on Saturday July 3rd in Florida, and pulled out a much-needed 2-1 victory on the road against Orlando City FC.
Possession was 55 % Orlando City and 45% New York, but that does not tell the whole story of this match. Shots-on-goal were six-to-four in the home side's favor and the Red Bull goalkeeper Carlos Colonel made five saves to keep his team from surrendering the two leads they held for most of the match.
For the first 60 minutes of the game, the visitors held a 1-0 lead. From the 79th minute onward, the Red Bulls again had the lead so for 79 minutes in total of the 98 minutes played, New York had a lead in this game.
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