It’s been quite a week for Red Bull New York star Julian Hall.
First, he earned his first senior United States national team call-up, and then he got to make a pretty good first impression on his new boss, head coach Mauricio Pochettino, who was on hand at Yankee Stadium Friday night to see Hall score the Red Bulls’ only goal in a crucial 1-0 win over New York City FC in the latest edition of the Hudson River Derby.
While NYCFC controlled possession for a majority of the game, it was Hall who capitalized on an unforgivable error by defender James Sands. The NYCFC defender attempted to pass the ball back to goalkeeper Matt Freese while under pressure from Hall, but the slow-rolling pass allowed the teenage star to gain possession and easily get past a desperate Freese in the 57th minute.
The goal and win could serve as a pinnacle moment for both the Red Bulls and Hall. The Red Bulls picked up a massive three points in the standings to jump back into playoff position, while leapfrogging NYCFC to move into eighth in the conference for the time being.
While Hall has been one of MLS’ shining stars of its youth movement, Hall has been on a goal drought in regular-season play that dates back to mid-May, when he scored a hat trick against the Columbus Crew.
For most of the match, NYCFC looked as though they would find a way to put the ball in the back of the net against their biggest rival, but chance after chance went wasted by the home side, hosting the Hudson River Derby for likely the last time at Yankee Stadium before they move into their new home at Etihad Park.
Nicolás Fernández Mercau sent a ball wide of the net in the fifth minute for NYCFC, and Aiden O’Neill skied a shot over the net in the 35th minute. The biggest miss came in the 53rd minute when Luighi was all alone in front of the Red Bulls’ net and missed wide right without any pressure around him.
Hall scored for the Red Bulls five minutes later.
The precarious loss puts New York City FC’s playoff hopes back in the balance as they drop down to ninth in the standings and raise questions about whether this club has the same gumption that last year’s did when it shocked the MLS world to reach the Eastern Conference finals.
