Photo credit: New York Red Bulls
Harrison, NJ — Coming off a week in which they went to Atlanta and won a 0-0 draw, the New York Red Bulls returned home and gave the fans an exciting 90 minutes of action. Referee Armando Villarreal was lenient in handing out cards, which led to a very intense Eastern Conference Finals rematch at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Dennis Gjengaar both found the back of the net for the first time in 2025, while Carlos Coronel, with two massive saves in stoppage time, was able to secure a point for Red Bull in a very entertaining 2-2 draw.
The game didn't get off to a good start for New York as It would be Orlando who would open the scoring. After a mistake from Noah Eile at the back, Martin Ojeda would pounce in the 18' and give the guest the 1-0 lead.
The Argentine had a free run on goal from the halfway line and leveraged himself so that Eile hesitated to foul him. Seconds later, Ojeda rifled a shot past Carlos Coronel from just outside the box.
That lead didn't last long as ten minutes later, Red Bull would get a chance from the penalty spot.
Red Bull in the Orlando box would see two players, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Peter Stroud, taken down minutes apart with no whistle. VAR had other ideas, indicating there was a foul on the first infraction against Choupo-Moting, giving New York a penalty.
Stepping up to the spot in the 30' was Choupo-Moting himself, beating Pedro Gallese inside the right post. That goal would be the Cameroonian international first goal in a Red Bull jersey. “Choupo was great today,” head coach Sandro Schwarz said about his striker post-game.
The first half at Sports Illustrated Stadium was a goal feast and Orlando would take the lead once again, getting in behind the Red Bull high defensive line.
This time it was left back Raheem Edwards keeping Orlando's newest designated player onside after the pass was made by Eduard Atuesta. One-on-one, Pasalic calm and cooly beat Coronel, who had zero chance to make a save for the second time this afternoon.
“We stayed too deep in this moment with our left-wing back,” Schwarz said. “We also had some moments in the first half with their attack, where they attacked on our left side… We had some moments where we were too deep in some situations.. It’s difficult to make high pressure on the ball against an opponent.”
In the second half, there would be more goals and Red Bull would find a second equalizer. Overlapping Edwards on the left wing, Peter Stroud's cross would find a touch from Dennis Gjengaar and beat Gallese at the near post after cutting in front of the goalkeeper from the right wing.
"Just trying to get something, some contact on the ball, and steer in the right direction and it worked," said Gjengaar.
For a second straight game, Sandro Schwarz had Gjengaar in the starting lineup, and the Norwegian rewarded his manager with a critical goal and terrorized Orlando down the right wing with his pace. That trust has given Gjengaar the confidence to play his game these past two weeks.
“It's a good feeling. The confidence from the coach. I felt like I showed that I wasn't the wrong man to put in. So hopefully the chances keep coming."
Like in the first half, Red Bull had the majority of the possession in the second 45'.The team was active in Orlando's box, creating plenty of chances from Raheem Edwards putting a rebound just wide of the left post to Gjengaar hitting the post, but New York couldn't find that third goal to give them the lead.
Orlando would have the chance to steal all three points in the stoppage time with two clear-cut chances, but Carlos Coronel would stand on his head and make saves with his feet to secure New York a point at home.
Sandro Schwarz was not happy with the team's play in the last ten minutes. "At the end, and this is what I don't like today, to be honest, and I said this directly to our guys in the locker room, what I don't like is how we played the last ten minutes at the end. So I would say most of the time we control the goals. We concede two goals very easily in an easy way, especially the second goal. But we have to be happy at the end of this game with this point. That's, for me, not possible today to be honest."
It was an end-to-end and exciting game but fans left the stadium feeling like it was two points rather than a point earned.
A month into the season, Red Bull is a respectable 1-2-1 with five points, but one thing that is lacking once again is goals. New York has an expected goals of 5.7 (7th in MLS) and 12 "big chances" created (4th) but they sit bottom half of the league with just four goals so far this season.
"Seventy-five minutes we were playing some good soccer", said midfielder Peter Stroud. "We created some good moments. I think it’s about creating more and more. We’re going to watch the tape tomorrow, obviously, and see where we can do better. It’s always tough to think about it right after the game but we have to go back and see where we could’ve created more chances."
The Red Bulls are back at Sports Illustrated Stadium next Saturday, March 22nd when they take on Federico Bernardeschi and Toronto FC (0-1-3, 1 Point). The Canadian side is coming off a 2-1 home loss to Chicago and is winless in their first four games in 2025.
Match Facts:
New York Red Bulls Starting XI (3-4-3)
Carlos Coronel (GK); Noah Elie, Sean Nealis, Alexander Hack; Dylan Nealis, Daniel Edelman, Peter Stroud, Raheem Edwards; Dennis Gjengaar (87'), Eric Maxim Choup-Moting, Emil Forsberg (c) (90+2')
Bench: Julian Hall ('75), Andy Rojas, Serge Ngoma (87'), Wiki Carmona (90+2'), Felipe Carballo ('75), Aiden Jarvis, Tim Parker, Omar Valencia & A.J Marcucci
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Pedro Gallese (GK); Alex Freeman, Rodrigo Schlegel, Robin Jansson (c), Kyle Smith; Marco Pašalić (82'), Joran Gerbet, Eduard Atuesta, Iván Angulo (82'); Martin Ojeda (68'), Luis Muriel
Bench: Javier Otero, David Brekalo (82'), Gustavo Caraballo, Ramiro Enrique (82'), Colin Guske, Duncan McGuire, Rafael Santos (82'), Zakaria Taifi & Dagur Dan Thorhallsson (68')
Scoring Summary
18': Martin Ojeda
29': Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (PEN)
39': Marco Pasalic
47': Dennis Gjengaar
Stats (RBNY/OCSC)
Possession: 57% - 43%
Shots: 14 (7) - 15 (8)
Big Chances: 5 - 3
Expected Goals (xG): 1.18 - 1.45
Passing: 467 (83%) - 354 (81%)
Fouls: 12 - 11
Corners: 2 - 5
Discipline
68': Peter Stroud (Yellow)
76': Sean Nealis (Yellow)
90': Serge Ngoma
