The Red Bulls sounded like a team that was ready to collect some apologies.
After being doubted going into the playoffs, and facing questions going into their conference semifinal against rival New York City FC — a first in the history of the Hudson River Derby — they picked up a 2-0 win at Citi Field to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 2018.
“I’m proud. I think a lot of people should apologize to us now,” Red Bulls captain Emil Forsberg said. “It’s always nice to show them that you are a good team. I think more that than just having this kind of anger towards something, it’s more like we are a good team, and we show that now. We’re happy, but we’re not satisfied.”
The Red Bulls will face the winner of Sunday’s playoff game between Atlanta United and Orlando City SC for the chance to reach the MLS Cup Final.
After the Red Bulls failed to beat their archrival during the regular season, the club managed to score twice in the first half.
Dante Vanzeir scored a goal and recorded an assist in the victory and Felipe Carballo found the back of the net for his second goal of the postseason.
New York’s first Hudson River Derby in the playoffs didn’t quite live up to the hype that preceded the rivalry showdown.
The Red Bulls jumped to an early lead and NYCFC created only a handful of dangerous chances. A frustrated NYCFC seemed to play sloppily at times after they fell behind.
There were some chippy moments between the two clubs and the fans, including an unfortunate moment after the game, when a small group of NYCFC supporters threw plastic bottles at celebrating Red Bulls players.
Red Bulls defender John Tolkin was seen catching one of the bottles and head coach Sandro Schwarz said afterward that he didn’t see what had happened.
A separate fan ran onto the field and toward an NYCFC player before being tackled by security.
The victory continued an impressive turnaround for the Red Bulls, who had won just three of their final 18 MLS regular-season matches. Since then, they toppled the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew in two games of a best-of-three series. And now have handled another one of the Eastern Conference’s tougher teams in NYCFC.
“I think we’ve grown as a team, and of course, in the season,” said Vanzeir, who went through a turnaround himself after being snakebitten during the season. “You have some ups and downs, and it’s normal, but I think the most important thing is just to have belief in yourself, even in the difficult moments.”
The Red Bulls first found the back of the net in the 16th minute, when Carballo fired a blistering shot from roughly 35 yards out that went over a leaping Matt Freese.
Red Bulls keeper Carlos Coronel kicked the ball deep into NYCFC territory and it eventually landed at the feet of Carballo, who took the deep shot.
NYCFC came close to tying the score in the 22nd minute, when Alonso Martinez attempted a bicycle kick that clipped a Red Bulls defender and allowed Coronel to make the save.
The rebound went back to Martinez, who fired the ball back on net, but Coronel came up with the second stop.
The missed opportunity proved costly for NYCFC as the Red Bulls buried their second goal of the night three minutes later.
A corner kick by Red Bulls star Forsberg found Vanzeir inside the box and he was able to boot the ball home to extend his team’s lead to 2-0 in the 25th minute.
“This New York City Derby, it’s, it’s something special. So, yeah, I would for sure say it’s in my top five most important goals,” Vanzeir said.
The Red Bulls defense stood tall the rest of the way as Coronel made five saves on the night and limited the dangerous opportunities that NYCFC was able to get.
There was a scary moment in the 59th minute, when Sean Nealis collided with Justin Haak. There was a brief delay before Nealis exited the game with a concussion, according to a Red Bulls spokesperson.
Schwarz said after the game that the injury “was not so good” and that Nealis would be checked out on Sunday.
