The New York Red Bulls experienced some deja vu in their match against Nashville SC as it was held scoreless for the full 90 minutes, mirroring the last head-to-head between the two clubs. With the point they earned, New York has 30 points (8-4-6) on the season and extended their unbeaten at-home streak to eight matches.
Before kickoff, the Red Bulls paid homage to former midfielder Dru Yearwood, who left the club in the offseason and signed with Nashville. Yearwood was given a commemorative plaque with his name and number as a tribute video was played in his honor, with fans applauding the former Red Bull.
New York was still without a few key players, such as goalkeeper Carlos Coronel, Lewis Morgan, who is in Germany for the 2024 UEFA Euro Cup, and captain Emil Forsberg. Backup keeper Ryan Meara made his third start of the season and earned his second clean sheet. Dante Vanzeir and Elias Manoel were the duo up top but continued to struggle at putting the ball in the net, with no goals scored in the last two matches.
Head Coach Sandro Schwarz spoke on the match.
“I said this to the whole team: Sometimes you don't get the result which you deserve," Schwarz said. "So this was today the main point, which is not so good for us, the result, but how we play, how we defend as a team, how we create this situation was very good for me."
Despite a scoreless ending, the Red Bulls had no shortage of shots. With 22 shots (five on goal), New York continuously pressed Nashville and made them uncomfortable for the majority of the match.
“We had decent situations and this is what we have to continue,” Schwarz said. “But with all these [shots] I would say it’s frustrating.”
Meara and the back four did a great job of keeping the ball out of the box and limiting shots. Nashville was held to just six shots with only one on-goal and not many chances off of set pieces.
“It starts without pressing,” Schwarz said. “This was very good from the whole team this behavior and then it’s easier for our center backs to step out and we find the right moments for pressing… very good organization and especially in the second half when we had them more. We need this when we want to play dominant…”
The Red Bulls will travel across the northern border for their next match as they visit CF Montreal for their 19th match of the season. Montreal sits in 12th in the Eastern Conference with just four wins on the season, but any away match is a challenge. The key to this match is for New York’s defense to stay consistent with how they played the past few matches, but their offense needs to step up, take more shots on target, and find the back of the net. The match will be on Wednesday, June 19, at 7:30 p.m. in Stade Saputo.
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