The New York Red Bulls broke out of their slump and returned to their winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Charlotte FC. The win put the club back in fourth place in the Eastern Conference while keeping their unbeaten at-home streak alive with nine matches across all competitions.
The first half was a slow and sluggish performance from both sides but with more focus on New York. The Red Bulls couldn’t connect their passes well, missing through balls, and even turned over the ball in crucial spots on the field. The first half ended a scoreless 0-0 with four shots by both sides.
Before the start of the second half, the match was delayed due to severe weather with heavy rainfall and lightning in the area. Of course, it's not a Red Bulls' home match without some torrential downpour or other weather issues. It took over an hour for the second half to start and the match to continue. But this extended halftime break seemed to be what New York needed as their improvement on the ball was noticeable.
Head coach Sandro Schwarz spoke on the match.
“I'm very happy we have this reaction after not the best performance in the first half, that we can change our intensity, and our energy immediately and then to change how we want to play, especially in the second half," Schwarz said. "This is also good to know because it's not possible to play every week a perfect match, a perfect game. So it's good to see that we can change and that we have to keep our focus on how we want to play, this was good.”
Around the 74th minute, Red Bulls’ captain Emil Forsberg earned the club a free kick right outside the 18 and scored the first goal of the match, putting New York in the lead at 1-0. Just two minutes later, Forsberg extended the lead to 2-0 after a perfect pass played by Lewis Morgan found the Swede inside the box for a simple one-touch shot. These two goals were Forsberg’s fifth and sixth on the season, including his first off of a free kick.
“I've been waiting for that free-kick goal," Forsberg said. "I had some bad luck in some games so finally got in. An amazing feeling, of course. Then second goal, yeah, I just needed to put it in. Amazing work from Lewis seeing me. It's a good feeling to score but that goal is a great path from Lewis so I could just put in."
Charlotte FC had not conceded a goal since April 27th until tonight when New York put three behind them. Andres Reyes went on to score the third and final goal for the Red Bulls in the 83rd minute off of a corner kick played in by John Tolkin. This was Reyes's first goal of the season. The Red Bulls were unfortunate enough not to get the clean sheet after Charlotte FC’s Ben Bender scored off of a deflection at the tail end of stoppage time in the 90th minute.
New York has a strength when playing in Red Bull Arena, with a record of 4-0-2 and now 14 goals scored at home (five conceded). The club has four home games in their favor out of their next six matches, including their next one against Orlando SC. New York will have a short week, with their next match being on Saturday, June 1, where they look to get the win against Orlando and keep their unbeaten streak alive.
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