On a clear night at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, the New York Red Bulls rallied back from an early deficit to earn a 1-1 draw with FC Cincinnati.
Matt Miazga won two Supporter's Shields with the Red Bulls in 2013 and 2015 and tonight he scored FC Cincinnati's first goal. In the 13th minute, Cincinnati had a free kick and sent a cross into the box which was headed in by Miazga.
The sting from that opening goal had barely gone away before a break came the home team's way. A Red Bulls player hurled a long throw-in into Cincy's box where it became a loose ball. Cincinnati's Junior Moreno and Red Bull's Andres Reyes came together in an awkward challenge and after a VAR review, it was ruled a penalty in New York's favor.
Patryk Klimala came into tonight's game, having gone 15 games without a goal but tonight that all ended when he scored a penalty kick in the 21st minute that tied the game at one.
That'll do, Patryk. That'll do.@Audi | #RBNY pic.twitter.com/yM9xD2yBZ3
— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) August 20, 2022
Right after the halftime break, FC Cincinnati midfielder, Alvaro Barreal had a golden opportunity to score inside the Red Bulls box but center back Sean Nealis was able to stop Barreal with a clean sliding tackle. In the 65th minute, Christian Casseres Jr. was taken down by Cincinnati defender Obinna Nwobodo's rough challenge ten yards away from goal, earning Nwobodo a yellow card. The Red Bulls were given a free kick, which their leading goal-scorer Lewis Morgan took and fired wide to the right.
However, the most dramatic moment of the match happened in the middle of the second half. In the 73rd minute, Red Bull Academy product Daniel Edelman received a pass right in the middle of Cincinnati's box but took a right-footed shot that went well over the bar. Edelman's scoring chance was the last lick for New York in this game and they went on to earn just one point from the match.
While Edelman missed the clearest chance of the game, the Red Bulls failed to earn three points for a variety of reasons. After the game, New York's Head Coach Gerhard Struber discussed what led to his team failing to win at home for the third game in a row.
We have to look very clear critically this game. I would say 55 minutes, I am happy, yeah. But I think we have to very criticize in many distributions the football. The output was not good. The chances, we create one chance in the end with Dan Edelman and we find no addresses. We have enough numbers. We have moments when we come in at 1-1 in the right areas. We have to create great the better output. This cannot be our standard that we have not the right urgency in every direction and the desire what we want. In this game, I have big respect for Cincy and how they work...but today it's absolutely only on us that we create not the three points.
Based on Struber's evaluation of his team tonight, it is true that distributing the ball, or team passing has been a sore spot for the Red Bulls this season because they rank last in Major League Soccer in team passing percentage. Meanwhile, their opponent tonight, FC Cincinnati has a team passing percentage that is nine percentage points better than what the Red Bulls have this season.
On a positive note, midfielder Dru Yearwood made his sixth consecutive start as a defensive midfielder for the Red Bulls, and he touched on what his team could have done better in this one.
Feels a little bit like a loss. We don't really have a positive feeling. So, coming out again, a game we wanted to win. I guess. So, the goal we set before the game was to push more in front of us and try and catch on. Yeah, I think we didn't really achieve that. I think chances are created that we're good enough to win the game. Definitely. And we often were a little disappointed. It's not our performance, but it's not. So again, not what we wanted.
After this game, New York's 'Red and White' have a week to recuperate before taking on Inter Miami CF at Red Bull Arena next Saturday. This will be a huge game for New York as they look to break a three-game winless streak at home against an Inter Miami team that defeated them 2-0 when they last met on May 22. The good news is that Struber's men remain one point behind New York City FC for third place in the Eastern Conference.
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