New York City FC sweep Hudson River Derby with 5-1 rout of the Red Bulls
Courtesy: New York City FC
By Chris Tsakonas
HARRISON, N.J, - New York City FC completed the season sweep in the Hudson River Derby with a 5-1 win over the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena tonight.
“This game was almost like a final for me, in that sense - I wanted to walk away delivering that trophy for our supporters, because they are the most important people in this football club,” head coach Nick Cushing said after the win.
New York City snapped a nine-match league winless streak with the win, who are currently fifth in the Eastern Conference with three matches remaining in the regular season.
Early start put New York City in the drivers’ seat
New York City scored two early goals inside the opening seven minutes, capitalizing on a pair of Red Bull turnovers to open up a 2-0 lead.
In the fifth minute, Maxi Moralez scored the opener after intercepting Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel inside his own penalty area. New York City capitalized off of another turnover for the second goal, as Alonso Martinez latched on to a back pass from Daniel Edelman before beating Coronel one-on-one to make it 2-0 in the seventh minute.
Relentless attack kept New York City in control
The Red Bulls briefly got it back to a one-goal match in the 28th minute when Dante Vanzeir scored at the end of a second chance off of a corner kick - but it didn’t stay that way for long.
Two minutes after Vanzeir’s goal, Andres Perea found the back of the net by heading in a cross from Tayvon Gray to make it a 3-1 New York City lead. Martinez followed up on that with his second goal in the fifth minute of first half stoppage time, putting New York City up by three goals heading into the halftime break.
Gray continues attacking streak with goal and assist
After picking up his seventh assist of the year on Perea’s goal in the first half, Gray put the exclamation point on the win by scoring his first goal of the season. In the 67th minute, Gray got on the end of a pass from Moralez and beat Coronel to find the back of the net from outside the penalty area.
Gray’s productive night in the attack is the latest chapter in his strong attacking season, as he has now surpassed Hannes Wolf to become New York City’s assist leader.
Next Up
It’ll be a quick turnaround for New York City FC, who will return to Red Bull Arena as the home team on Wednesday night when they host FC Cincinnati. Live radio coverage with Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence will get underway at 7:15 p.m. at newyorkcityfc.com/radio and the Apple TV home radio feature.