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| Red Bulls defender Amro Tarek celebrating his goal. @NewYorkRedBulls. |
It was a successful Saturday for the New York-area MLS teams as the Red Bulls outlasted the LA Galaxy, 3-2, at Red Bull Arena, while New York City Football Club won in Montreal, 2-0, over the Impact.
The Red Bulls improved to 3-4-2, with 11 points, and they are in eighth place. NYCFC leaped into a playoff position, improving to 3-6-1, with 15 points, to take sole possession of fifth place.
Red Bulls 3, LA Galaxy 2:
The Red Bulls earned their first win over LA at Red Bull Arena since 2013, and have now won back-to-back league wins for the first time in 2019. They had five Academy Products featured in the win, three in the Starting XI and two coming on as subs.
The Red Bulls struck first when Marc Rzatkowski swung in a free kick into the box for Brian White to chip behind him into a crowded box, and Amro Tarek picked up the loose ball and finished to the near post for the 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.
Late in the first half, Los Angeles got goals from Uriel Antuna in the 39th minute, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 43rd, to take a 2-1 lead at the half.
Rzatkowski tied the match up in the 59th minute after a cross into the box from Connor Lade. It was Rzatkowski's tallied first league goal of the season and third career MLS goal.
Minutes later, in the 67th, Daniel Royer connected with Omir Fernandez, who found Derrick Etienne, Jr. open in the middle of the box, and he buried it to make it 3-2.
This was Etienne's 55th minute of play this year, and it is his first goal of 2019 and sixth career MLS goal. The Patterson, N.J. native tallied his fourth career MLS goal as a sub.
Royer, Fernandez and Lade all tallied assists in this one. Fernandez recorded his first career MLS assist, while Lade tallied his first league assist of 2019 and ninth career.
Lade (1g, 1a) and Royer (2a) both have tallied points in back-to-back matches. Lade record points in back-to-back matches for the first time in his career.
Red Bulls captain and goalkeeper Luis Robles made three saves en route to his 104th career MLS win. Robles moved into a tie with Stefan Frei for eighth all-time in league history.
Red Bulls midfielder Kemar Lawrence played his 100th career MLS match.
Red Bulls Head coach Chris Armas moved to 15-7-5 overall in MLS regular-season matches and 11-3-0 in league home games. Armas jumped into sole possession for sixth all-time in franchise wins with 15.
Armas said of what this win means for his club, "Momentum's important, as we've experienced one way, the momentum of it, when you lose a few. You know, sticking to it is the key. Believing what you're doing. Believing in the work. Guys sticking together. Staff working hard.
"So yes, putting a couple of wins together, wins at home, rewards the players -- I wish it was worth more than three, but take the full three. Wasn't easy. We knew we were playing a good team. Many, many good attackers and we knew that it would look something like that. You can't draw the script beforehand, but it was full belief at halftime that our guys could not just battle back, but win the game."
The Red Bulls conclude their three-match homestand on Wednesday, May 8 against the Montreal Impact. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m.
NYCFC 2, Montreal Impact 0:
NYCFC has now won three of their last four games, and is unbeaten in their last six games (3 wins, 3 ties).
It took just six minutes for Maxi Moralez to put them on the board, and then he earned the assist on Ismael Tajouri-Shradi's goal in the 49th minute.
NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson earned his fifth clean sheet of the season.
NYCFC Head coach Domènec Torrent said of the win, "It was a fantastic game for us because it is not easy to play here. They defended really well the last three or four games. But I’m very happy because I remember last year how many problems we had and right now the feeling is much better…My feeling is they are happy to play in this system, 3-4-3. Sometimes soccer is about the feeling and the feeling is much better."
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