NYCFC drops derby to Red Bulls after miscue, missed chances

In what could be the final Hudson River Derby played at Yankee Stadium, New York City FC suffered its first MLS regular-season defeat to Red Bull New York since 2023 with a 1-0 loss on Friday night.

NYCFC had the chances to take all three points and make it five straight matches without a loss to the Red Bulls, but Julian Hall punished James Sands for a costly errant pass back toward Matt Freese, with Hall collecting and scoring the game-winning goal in the 57th minute.

With the loss, New York City gets leapfrogged by the Red Bulls in the MLS Eastern Conference standings and is now barely hanging on to a playoff spot, sitting in ninth place with 32 points, but with FC Cincinnati, DC United, and Toronto FC all still to play this weekend and all within three points or fewer of NYCFC.

New York City could find itself outside the playoff spots looking in by the time they play again, on Saturday, September 26 at Atlanta United FC, where the club will be severely shorthanded due to international call-ups for players like Matt Freese, Aiden O'Neill, Tayvon Gray, and Mitja Ilenič.

Dull first half

This derby has seen plenty of goals scored quickly after kickoff, but this was not the case on Friday.

NYCFC got its first glimpse of goal in the fifth minute, when Nicolás Fernández Mercau came inches away from scoring his 16th goal of the season with an outside-of-the-box strike that went just wide.

Thirteen minutes later, Fernández Mercau was the architect of a chance. He laid a pass off to Andrés Perea, who nearly got his fourth career goal against the Red Bulls, but Ethan Horvath made a diving save to keep the midfielder out.

Pepe testing their keeper early 😤 pic.twitter.com/J4mH5FFBYr

— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) September 18, 2026

Outside of those two chances, it was a slow but very physical first half, with a combined 15 fouls and four yellow cards between the two sides.

Red Bulls pounce on a mistake

New York City started the second half fast — just like it did in the first — with two big chances from Hannes Wolf and Luighi, just one minute apart. Wolf's strike was saved, and Luighi put his shot wide despite having a chance to shoot from point-blank range.

A few minutes after those two missed opportunities to take the lead, the Red Bulls found an opening against the run of play, taking the lead in the 57th minute after capitalizing on a catastrophic mistake from NYCFC.

Julian Hall chases it down and opens the scoring for New York! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/JxUzEPoITR

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 19, 2026

It started with a routine over-the-top ball from Mohammed Sofo, which Sands took down, but his pass back to goal was too weak, and Hall pounced on it, leaving him alone with acres of space. Matt Freese had come off his line, but Hall dribbled past his future United States men's national team compatriot and slotted it into the open net for his first goal in 12 games and his third career goal against New York City.

Pascal Jansen responded accordingly by making attacking substitutions, bringing Alonso Martínez and Bénie Traoré on in place of Hannes Wolf and Luighi. Each substitute had good looks at goal shortly after coming on, but neither was able to convert.

NYCFC had a great opportunity from a free kick in the 81st minute, when Fernández Mercau picked out a high-rising Thiago Martins, but his header was impressively tipped over the bar by Horvath.

Then, in stoppage time, Traoré found himself in alone in front of goal and in golden position to score a second-ever goal for the club, but instead put his shot right at Horvath, who made his fourth — but most important — save of the night.

Despite dominating, New York City never found the back of the net and suffered its sixth home loss this season. The loss leaves them winless against the Red Bulls in a regular season for the first time since 2023, and for the fourth season in the 12-season history of the rivalry.