On a summery warm night in Harrison, Red Bull New York served up scalding hot attacking play for those gathered inside Sports Illustrated Stadium.

By defeating Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 3-1 in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32, the Red Bulls advanced to the Round of 16 to set up a Hudson River Rivalry meeting with bitter foes New York City FC.

The last 16 fixture between the Red Bulls and NYCFC will take place at Sports Illustrated Stadium on either April 28 or 29.

Pascal Jansen’s Pigeons will likely provide far more challenging opposition than the USL Championship title-holding Riverhounds, who, despite their best efforts, were dominated over the course of 90 minutes.

Key Moments That Defined the Match

Red Bull New York captain Emil Forsberg once again demonstrated his dead-ball expertise by hitting a superb free kick past Nico Campuzano in the 25th minute. His free kick routine with a dummy supplied by Matthew Dos Santos was almost a carbon copy of his spectacular free kick goal against FC Cincinnati on April 4.

Three minutes later, goal-hungry forward Julian Hall doubled New York’s advantage to 2-0. Hall would again score two minutes into the second half to put the match out of reach for the visitors.

“Of course I want to score goals, but my main objective is to make as much of an impact as I can,” Hall said after the match. “Thankfully, I got two tonight, and now I’m just ready for the game on Saturday.”

Hudson River Derby Set: NYCFC Awaits in Round of 16

Though Trevor Amann would later score for Pittsburgh in the 79th minute, the Red Bulls saw out the final minutes to arrange a must-see match against NYCFC.

Head coach Michael Bradley is looking forward to his first derby in charge of the Red Bull first team.

“We are really excited,” Bradley said. “Obviously, I’ve watched the New York Derby from afar. I was at the game here last season, and so I think it speaks for itself in terms of the two clubs and everything that it means when two teams in the same city now play and are ready to go after each other.”

We’ll soon learn whether that enticing matchup will occur on April 28 or 29.

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