Hudson River Derby revenge! NYCFC crush Red Bulls' playoff hopes | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

Cityzens, Pigeons, Celestes, The Boys in Blue: New York City FC have picked up more than their share of nicknames in the club’s decade of existence.

After Saturday night’s pulsating Hudson River Derby win over the New York Red Bulls, you can call them undertakers, too.

The Red Bulls aren’t mathematically, officially eliminated from Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs contention yet, but NYCFC essentially administered the last rites with their 3-2 victory, which leaves RBNY five points beneath the Eastern Conference playoff line with just two matches left in their campaign.

This result clinches the season series for the blue side of Gotham, caps a hectic stretch of five games in two weeks, provides a rapid bounceback from their 4-0 home thrashing at the hands of Inter Miami at midweek, and delivers a long-awaited taste of revenge after RBNY’s upset win in last autumn’s postseason clash at Citi Field.

“Last year, they ended our season,” Pigeons utility man Justin Haak told MLS Season Pass analyst (and former Red Bull legend) Bradley Wright-Phillips after the final whistle. “And to beat them twice this year now, in their stadium, after such a difficult two weeks for us, feels amazing for us.

“I've heard one of your colleagues say it, maybe last week, that nobody wants to see us,” he added of his team’s potential for a big playoff run, “and I truly believe that whenever we match up against these big teams, we always put on a good game, and we're ready for anybody.”

Blue wave

It all tasted that much sweeter because it happened in RBNY’s own house, with chants and cheers ringing around Sports Illustrated Stadium from a large contingent of NYCFC faithful who’d crossed the Hudson to blunt what was long one of MLS’s strongest home-field advantages.

“I was very pleasantly surprised by how many blue shirts I saw in this red stadium, because I was told in the beginning of the week that the people from New York, that is from our side, do not like to come to this stadium,” said Cityzens head coach Pascal Jansen of his team’s noisy traveling support. “But I'm hoping they will be here many more times, and with a bigger crowd, even, because we love to give them these kind of performances.”

His side have now beaten their rivals in four straight regular season meetings for the first time ever, matching the streak of dominance built by BWP, Sacha Kljestan and their RBNY teammates in 2015-16.

Taking charge early

Jansen noted that claiming the HRD trophy, a rendition of the Statue of Liberty’s iconic torch, means a bit more to City homegrowns like Haak. The versatile Brooklyn native played a vital role in cracking this game open with the assist on Nico Fernández Mercau’s opening goal just 1:41 after kickoff, the third-fastest strike in the history of this fixture, made possible by Haak’s aggressive dispossession of Wiki Carmona as RBNY tried to build out of the back.

“I saw a little bit of a loose touch, and with the way we play, Pascal likes me to always step into the midfield, get forward, because naturally, I've always played there,” said Haak, whose comfort in both central defense and deep midfield has proved useful for the Pigeons. “So once I saw that loose touch, I just got forward, took a little space and saw Nico making the run.”

It was just the sort of sequence Jansen had prepared his team for, and a priceless piece of leverage against a desperate Red Bulls squad in must-win mode.

“It was a fantastic start for us, but we also knew the pressure was with Red Bull,” said Jansen. “That gave us the opportunity to switch play or attack the spaces in behind, and that was part of the plan; the first goal obviously helped a lot.

“We try to be on the front foot every game, in every situation, because we believe in the fact, once we press with the high intensity that we try to bring into the game, mistakes will be made, errors will be forced by the intensity,” Jansen added. “So on and off the ball, the intensity is the key.”

Freese injury concern

The one blemish on a rousing night for NYCFC: The early exit of star goalkeeper Matt Freese, who collided with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and tried to continue before leaving the pitch with an apparent head injury. While Jansen praised backup Tomás Romero as “an excellent substitute,” the Pigeons will be praying their US international returns to the nets quickly.

“He took a knock in the head just before halftime and tried it in the second half. At the moment he’s being checked by the doctors and the medical guys, and we’ll just have to wait and see what the results will be,” said the coach of Freese

“Matt is a key player for our team, has done very well this season, helped the team a lot, and so hopefully the damage is not too big.”

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