It was going to take something special for an undermanned version of Red Bull New York to pull off an upset over a surging St. Louis CITY SC side.
On Wednesday night, an upset wasn’t in the cards as visiting St. Louis defeated the Red Bulls 3-0 at Sports Illustrated Stadium. St. Louis has now gone 17 games unbeaten and moved into second place in the Western Conference.
The impact of 12 New York players being unavailable due to injury or international duty forced Red Bull New York head coach Michael Bradley to field a heavily changed lineup.
Bradley Frustrated By Late Goals: ‘Those Are Bad Goals To Give’
Following the defeat, Bradley spoke of his frustration after his side conceded two preventable late goals.
“Generally, after the set piece goal that they score early, the biggest chances in the game are for us. But we can’t score, or we don’t score, and then the second and third goals at the end are frustrating goals to give away.
“Those are, yeah, those are bad goals to give. So, in the end, it’s a frustrating night, but there’s still everything to play for, and everything is still in our hands, and there’s a lot of big games to come.”
Captain Emil Forsberg and forwards Jorge Ruvalcaba and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting returned to the starting XI. None of the three were able to find the sharpness needed when it mattered in Wednesday’s contest.
Midfielder Sekou Kone made his first career MLS start after being called up to the first team from Red Bull New York II on a short-term agreement.
Early on, St. Louis found a breakthrough when forward Rafael Navarro scored from a header in the fifth minute.
Former Red Bull New York midfielder Daniel Edelman was honored before the match in his return to Sports Illustrated Stadium as a visiting player. Red Bull New York Head of Sport Julian de Guzman presented Edelman with a plaque in a prematch ceremony.
Castro, Faello and Worth Make Red Bull New York Debuts
Pedro Castro and Connor Faello made their Red Bull New York debuts in the 64th minute, coming on as substitutes for Jorge Ruvalcaba and Devin Padelford.
Padelford was dealing with a knock at the time of his substitution. Bradley is intrigued by Faello’s ability to play either outside back position.
“Connor’s an interesting profile because he’s a right-footed player that has played a lot as a left-back,” Bradley explained.
“He can play right-back, but when he plays left-back, his ability to be two-footed and to be a little bit unpredictable when he gets balls, that’s a real strength.”
Pedro Castro only recently made his Red Bull New York II debut 10 days ago.
“Pedro is a guy that in a short amount of time has shown some quality, shown an ability, shown that he has some different qualities,” Bradley said. “Given that we’re thin tonight, it becomes a good opportunity to get him on the field and see a little bit of what he can do.”
Bradley Praises Worth’s Improvement
Midfielder Nate Worth also made his first-team debut in the 84th minute.
“Nate’s a guy that has been around the first team a lot, and so it was a good chance tonight to get him his first-team debut,” Bradley said. “Nate has good qualities. He has real football starting points.
“He has, from the time that he came back to the club, not long after I got here with Red Bull II last year, he’s been a guy who has improved in a really steady way. So we’re going to continue to push him and move him along.”
Simon Becher doubled St. Louis’ lead with an 88th-minute goal, and Tomáš Ostrák put the match out of reach with a 91st-minute goal.
Red Bull New York will next face San Diego FC on Saturday, October 10 at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
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