ORLANDO, FL – Chapter one, page one of the Michael Bradley era has begun in spectacular fashion, spoling Orlando City’s home opener in front of a sold-out crowd, 2-0.
Cade Cowel had New York’s first opportunity in the 5th minute, but Orlando goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau was up to the task, denying the effort with a kick save.
Three minutes later, New York would strike first. Cade Cowel delivered a beautiful through ball to Emil Forsberg, who drove deep into the Orlando City defense, dribbling around a fallen Crepeau, and passed to a wide-open Julina Hall, scoring the first goal of the campaign.
With his team behind a goal, head coach Oscar Pareja was forced to make a substitution as Colin Guske was brought in to replace Wilder Cartgena, as he picked up a serious injury in the 14th minute.
Red Bulls continue to press Orlando City’s defense hard, creating opportunities, but could not capitalize, including a chance by Cade Cowell whose shot rang off the bottom of the crossbar and out of play in the 27th minute.
Red Bull was on yet another break in the 34th minute as Cowell got the ball to Forsberg, but his one-time shot was blocked away, setting up a corner kick, initially punched away by Crepeau, but the ball was loose and picked up by Adri Mehmeti, and he got it over to Hall, banging it in from close range in the 40th minute.
The first half ended with the Red Bulls looking like the better side, holding the hosts to just one shot on goal. Delighting the traveling supporters who came to witness history and the Red Bulls’ first road win since defeating CF Montreal back in September.
As the second half began, Orlando City supposedly cut the two-goal lead to one. But under further review, Griffin Dorsey was called for a handball as the ball went into the net, negating the goal.
Orlando would finally erase the clean sheet six minutes in stoppage time, the only blemish on a near-dominating performance by the Red Bulls as they cemented their first road win since tagging CF Montreal, 2-0, back in September.
Julian Hall became the 31st different player in 31 seasons to score the first goal of the season in franchise history. He also recorded his first MLS multi-goal game, becoming the fifth player in MLS history to score multiple goals at 17 years or younger.
The home opener next week promises to be a must-see event as Michael Bradley and his team try to make it two in a row against the New England Revolution at Sports Illustrated Stadium. As they look forward to that match, they will enjoy the win, knowing that this is just a start or maybe something special this season.
Starting XI:
Orlando City SC: Maxime Crepeau, Adrian Marin, David Brekalo, Iago Teodoro (Nolan Miller 45), Griffin Dorsey (Zakaria Taifil 86′), Braian Ojeda, Wilder Cartagena (Colin Guske 14′), Martin Ojeda, Tyrese Spicer (Tiago Souza 76′), Marco Pasalic (Ivan Angulo 45), Duncan McGuire
Red Bull New York: Ethan Horvath, Matthew Dos Santos (Omar Valencia 65′), Dylan Nealis, Justin Che, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty (Juan Mina 65′), Adri Mehmeti (Gustav Breggren 76′), Ronald Donkor, Emil Forsberg, Jorge Ruvalcaba (Eric Maxim Choup-Moting 76′), Cade Cowell, Julian Hall (8′, 40′)(Tanner Rosborough 87′)
Scoring Summary:
8′ | Red Bull New York – Julian Hall, assisted by Emil Forsberg and Cade Cowell
40′ | Red Bull New York – Julian Hall, assisted by Adri Mehmeti
Disciplinary Summary:
47′ | Orlando City SC – Tyrese Spicer, yellow card
49′ | Red Bull New York – Justin Che, yellow card
63′ | Red Bull New York – Adrian Mehmeti, yellow card