Bonkers Hudson River Derby sees NYCFC beat RBNY to sweep the season series | OneFootball

When New York City FC and the New York Red Bulls face each other in the Hudson River Derby, tensions tend to be high.  The two teams do not like one another, and rightfully so.  While the rivalry was originally forced upon everyone back in 2015, it soon turned into true animosity.  That is why every game is played with the desire to win, and Saturday was no different.

After a bonkers and insane derby, NYCFC finished with all three points, winning 3-2.  The fixture had everything, from crazy goals, pushing and shoving, controversial calls, and the true hatred of each other on the pitch.

The biggest story entering the match was that Alonso Martínez was completely unavailable due to a quad injury.  As such, Nicolás Fernández Mercau stepped into the striker position for the second game in a row.  Agustín Ojeda started on the wings with Hannes Wolf, earning his second start in a row as well.

The only difference from the team that poorly lost to Inter Miami CF on Wednesday was that Kevin O’Toole was on the bench.  Instead, Raul Gustavo started for NYCFC.  Pascal Jansen might have gone in this direction to have a more defensive backline since the Brazilian is a natural center-back.

Crazy derby ends with NYCFC win

The derby started quickly.  In the second minute, Justin Haak stole the ball from the Red Bulls.  The Homegrown player took a few steps before passing the ball to Fernández Mercau.  With ease, the striker of the day swept the ball into the bottom right corner to put NYCFC ahead.

But the match was not to be all sunshine and rainbows.  The home side would not allow the Pigeons to repeat the 5-1 win at Sports Illustrated Stadium last season.  So, after the goal, RBNY dominated the play.  They were ferociously attacking, seeking to level the match.  And in the 23rd minute, they did so.  Thiago Martins did not stop Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who was the player to watch, and the forward found his teammate Julian Zakrzewski Hall.  With one tap, the 17-year-old leveled the score.

However, NYCFC knew what they had to do after the midweek loss.  Therefore, they retook the lead three minutes later.  Gustavo marvelously swept the ball into the box, and it found the head of Andrés Perea.  In what looked like a goal in FIFA, the ball bounced from the head of the midfielder, looked like it was going to go over, but fell into the goal in what might be the goal of the season for the Boys in Blue.

The fight continued, and so did the goals.  Unfortunately, the Red Bulls tied the game in the 47th minute after a rare mistake from Matt Freese.  He gave the ball away, and it led to Choupo-Moting’s second assist of the night.  He sent the ball into the box, and Emil Forsberg’s one-touch shot went past the NYCFC keeper.

Clearly, RBNY’s talk in the locker room at halftime sparked something, and from that point on, they kept the Boys in Blue with their backs to the goal for the next ten minutes.  It felt like a miracle that a third goal was not scored, and eventually the real New York team broke through with a period of offensive opportunities.

Oh, and guess what?  The bonkers game continued to be as crazy as it could be.  In the 65th minute, Maxi Moralez took a free kick and found Perea in the box.  He attempted to secure a brace with a header, but Carlos Coronel made the save to bounce the ball off the post.  Martins, who was in the right spot, tapped the ball in to make the match 3-2.

The Pigeons almost secured a fourth goal and a second from Fernández Mercau, but a controversial offside call on Julián Fernández, which was confirmed by VAR due to not being clear and obvious, overturned the goal.

Meanwhile, there were some nerves for NYCFC fans.  Freese, who went down injured at the end of the first half, had to come out in the 67th minute.  Tomás Romero, who impressed the Pigeons when Freese was not available, was forced to finish the game between the sticks.  Since he had not recently played, there was fear that the rustiness would enable RBNY to score another goal.

It helped, for the most part, that the visitors’ backline protected Romero.  However, NYCFC had to defend for the majority of the final ten minutes of regulation and the ten minutes of stoppage time.  The threat was real.  And of course, this was a bonkers derby that could not be dominated by either team.