HARRISON, N.J. (June 22, 2022) – In the first Hudson River Derby of 2022, the New York Red Bulls emerged victorious with a 3-0 win against rivals New York City FC to seize their sixth U.S. Open Cup Semifinals appearance. Lewis Morgan, Luquinhas and Omir Fernandez scored the goals as the Red Bulls earned their third win in as many Open Cup matches against NYCFC, who have yet to score against their rivals in the Open Cup edition of the Hudson River Derby.
Although the first half passed without a goal, it was not without action as the Red Bulls began with an energetic opening five minutes in front of a boisterous home crowd of 12,575 fans. Rising to meet their host’s intensity, NYCFC gathered three cautions (two for fouls) in the space of five minutes as referee Matthew Thompson tried to keep an increasingly chippy match in check – the teams finished the opening stanza with a combined 22 fouls.
The game’s first solid chance fell to the Red Bulls Cristian Cásseres in the 43rd minute when he one-timed a loose ball in the box toward goal, but a strong save by Luis Barraza sent the rivals to their locker rooms with zeros on the scoreboard.
“More than New York City, we wanted the win more.” said Red Bulls head coach Gerhard Struber after the game. And that fight was evident when the teams retook the field for the second half.
Play hadn’t resumed for long before the deadlock was broken. Tom Edwards lofted a free kick into the box where NYRB captain Aaron Long nodded down into the path of an onrushing Lewis Morgan. The Scotsman, who formerly reached an English League Cup semifinal with Sunderland, poked home what proved to be the game winner in the 52nd minute.
Ten minutes later, the physical nature of the match turned the tide against NYCFC. After committing a foul while chasing a ball into the Red Bulls’ box, Thiago Andrade, who was about to be substituted, received a straight red card for attempting to headbutt Red Bulls defender John Tolkien with the referee standing within arm’s length of the pair.
Reduced to 10 men, NYCFC battled on but could not hold off their rivals. In the 70th minute, Luquinhas gathered a rebound from Patryk Klimala’s shot, danced through the defense and roofed a shot to make it 2-0.
While NYCFC captain Maxime Chanot made a nice sliding save to clear the ball away from the goal line in 75th minute, he and the boys in blue couldn’t prevent the Red Bulls from adding a third. As second half stoppage time set in, substitute Omir Fernandez put an exclamation on proceedings for the home side. A native son of the Bronx, Fernandez was left wide open in the box to finish off a Red Bulls counter-attack and ensure his side returned to the U.S. Open Cup Semifinals for the first time since 2017.
While the physical edge that had defined the first half had abated some after the Andrade ejection and Red Bulls second goal, all was not settled between the combatants at full time. Some post-match extracurriculars led to the teams needing to be separated after the Red Bulls’ Edwards and NYC’s Maxi Moralez were both shown straight reds to close the book on the match.
“At the end of the day, New York is red,” Fernandez beamed, underlining the his sides statement in latest fiery edition of the Hudson River Derby.
New York Red Bulls (Div. I MLS) vs. New York City FC (Div. I MLS) - Quarterfinal
June 22, 2022 – 8 p.m. ET – 70 degrees, cloudy
Red Bull Arena; Harrison, N.J. (12,575 attendance)
Scoring Summary:
NYRB – Lewis Morgan (Aaron Long) 52nd minute
NYRB – Luquinhas 70
NYRB – Omir Fernandez (Cameron Harper) 90+1
Lineups:
NYRB: 1-Carlos Coronel; 47-John Tolkin, 33-Aaron Long (C), 15-Sean Nealis, 7-Thomas Edwards; 8-Frankie Amaya, 23-Cristian Cásseres Jr, 82-Luquinhas (65-Steven Sserwadda, 84), 10-Lewis Morgan (21-Omir Fernandez, 73), 12-Dylan Nealis (17-Cameron Harper, 83), 74-Tom Barlow (9-Patryk Klimala, 63)
Substitutes not used: 18-Ryan Meara, 24-Jason Pendant, 28-Zach Ryan
Head coach: Gerhard Struber
NYCFC: 13-Luis Barraza; 12-Malte Amundsen (2-Christopher Gloster, 73), 6-Alexander Callens, 4-Maxime Chanot (C), 24-Tayvon Gray; 7-Alfredo Morales, 55-Keaton Parks, 8-Thiago Andrade, 38-Gabriel Pereira (10-Maximiliano Moralez, 63), 20-Santiago Rodríguez (43-Talles Magno 64), 11-Valentín Castellanos
Substitutes not used: 1-Sean Johnson, 3-Anton Tinnerholm, 9-Héber, 26-Nicolás Acevedo
Head coach: Nick Cushing
Stats Summary: NYRB / NYCFC
Shots: 9 / 9
Shots on Goal: 5 / 3
Saves: 3 / 2
Corner Kicks: 1 / 5
Fouls: 23 / 16
Offside: 2 / 1
Misconduct Summary:
NYCFC – Keaton Parks (Caution) 15th minute
NYCFC – Santiago Rodríguez (Caution) 18
NYCFC – Malte Amundsen (Caution) 20
NYRB – Aaron Long (Caution) 35
NYRB – Cristian Cásseres Jr (Caution) 56
NYCFC – Thiago Andrade (Ejection) 62
NYRB – Dylan Nealis (Caution) 77
NYRB – Cameron Harper (Caution) 90+3
NYRB – Thomas Edwards (Ejection) 90+6
NYCFC – Maximiliano Moralez (Ejection) 90+6
Officials:
Referee: Matthew Thompson
AR1 & 2: Ben Pilgrim, Tyler Wyrostek
4th Official: Luis Arroyo