Red Bull New York is confronted with a major issue in 2026 as the club dropped points for the third straight league game after a 2-0 loss to FC Cincinnati on Saturday night. The game saw a poor first half cost the club as they gave up a 40th minute goal to Kevin Denkey before giving up a penalty just before the halftime whistle. Defensive rotations saw Tim Parker and Joyeux Bungi make starts but looked particularly shaky when faced with the Cincinnati offense.
“The biggest frustration in the first half is that, on a night where you go away from home, when you play against a good team in a great stadium, good atmosphere, that we get to the end of the first half, we can’t find a way to just make sure that we get into halftime down 1-0,” said Bradley about his team’s performance in the first half.
Much of the team’s mentality changed in the second half as they controlled more of the offense and attacked Cincinnati. The inclusion of Emil Forsberg for Gustav Berggren allowed Red Bull to establish their control in the midfield. The passing was crisp and incisive whereas it was slower and less accurate under the more defensive countryman of the New York captain. This season, Berggren has seen his position shift game-to-game. His time in the US Open Cup saw an appearance as a center back. Now, he was placed back into the middle of the field where he was expected to patrol when being signed under last year’s head coach Sandro Schwarz.
The team instantly perked up in the attack with an effort from Matthew Dos Santos hitting the post off of a free kick. Cade Cowell also saw his level increase as he was able to take on the defense in a more aggressive manner. The club also sured up their defense, allowing fewer chances against a dangerous Cincinnati midfield.
Unfortunately it wasn’t enough as the home club bent but never broke. The combination of Julian Hall, Jorge Ruvalcaba, Cowell and Forsberg could do little than find dangerous spaces. The frustration showed from head coach Bradley as the club has now gone without a win in league play since April 4th.
“I think in the first half, we didn’t play so well,” said Berggren about the team’s performance. “We had problems keeping the ball. Also also, we talked in the locker room, that when we are down 1-0 and only a couple minutes left of the first half, we need to be able to do a little bit better to not concede the second one right before the half.”
This leaves Red Bull refocusing on the US Open Cup where they will play rivals NYCFC at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Wednesday night. The round of 16 clash is one between two clubs currently looking to re-establish early season successes. On their side, City have lacked on both ends of the field, coming into this game having only seen success in the national cup competition.
photo by Matt Kremkau