Red Bulls Pull Off Saturday Night Shocker Against Union With 1-0 Win

Published: Saturday, August 16, 2025

by Ryan Nelke

HARRISON, N.J. – The Red Bulls (11-6-10) shocked the Union (15-6-6) Saturday night, hanging onto a 1-0 win until the very last whistle.  This was New York’s first win against Philadelphia since 2019 and with the victory, they find themselves back in playoff position.

Going into tonight’s matchup, the Union chose to rest two of its premier players, Cavan Sullivan and Tai Baribo, giving them the night off following their Wednesday battle against the Red Bulls which took place in Philadelphia.

To open up the game, both teams traded scoring chances, but neither were able to capitalize leaving the contest scoreless halfway through the first half.

Around the 25-minute mark of the first half, the starting goalkeeper for the Union, Andre Blake, went down with an injury following offensive pressure from the Red Bulls.  After attempting to give it a go, it was apparent Blake could not continue as he went back down to the ground.  Andrew Rick would come on to replace him in net.

Regardless of the four minutes of extra time being added at the end of the half, it made no difference as both teams went into the locker room deadlocked at zero.

Up until the 65-minute mark, the lack of action continued as the Red Bulls accounted for the lone shot of the game between the two teams.

However, the 65-minute mark brought about the Union’s best opportunity of the game when Philadelphia’s Bruno Damiani drew a penalty in the penalty area on Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel.  In what was the biggest moment of the game, Coronel came up with a massive save, keeping the game scoreless and sending the crowd into a frenzy.

That save by Coronel proved to be the turning point of the game, as nine minutes later, Dylan Nealis netted his first of the year from the right corner of the penalty area, as the ball got past Rick and into the lower left corner of the net.  Eric Choupo-Moting was credited with the assist, and New York now held a 1-0 lead.

Just before the 84-minute mark, Philadelphia’s Kai Wagner got a great chance to even the game up, but narrowly missed as the ball went right outside the right goalpost.

Philadelphia applied pressure up until the very last second of extra time, but New York stood strong and held onto their 1-0 lead until the final whistle blew.

With the win, the Red Bulls jumped back into playoff position, now in possession of 8th place. Following the upset victory, New York gets a bit of a break as they will not place until August 24th, when they host Charlotte at home, with the game kicking off at 7pm.

Ryan Nelke can be reached at nelkerya@shu.edu.

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