Julian Hall Brace Gives Michael Bradley and Red Bulls First Win of the Season

Dominating first half and strong defense gave the club its first win of the season

Orlando, FL- Red Bull New York started their first match of the 2026 MLS Regular Season with a dominating performance down in Central Florida as the club faced Orlando City at Inter&Co Stadium. After the first two to three minutes of the match, the Red Bulls turned it on and dominated Orlando City on the pitch. Attacking and abusing the wide areas of the pitch, racing down the flanks and crossing the ball at will to the middle, getting two goals, and should’ve been more as Orlando’s defense was compramised and couldn’t handle this new version of the club as the Red Bulls earned their first win of the season by a final score of two goals to one.

Julian Hall opens the scoring

The first goal of the match came from quick thinking and quick passing. Dylan Nealis, from his side of the midfield stripe, made a quick pass to Cade Cowell along the near side touchline. After taking a few steps forward, Cowell snapped a hard pass directly to Emil Forsberg, who attacked the net, pulled Maxime Crepeau out of his net just far enough to go behind him, made a low pass to Julian Hall trailing the play, and he tapped it home into an open net inside the eighth minute.

Julian Hall on the Double

Red Bulls earned a corner at the far side. As the ball was delivered, Orlando City took care of it and punched it away. But these Red Bulls found a way to get the ball back, and they were hungry for more. Adri Mehmeti took the ball away from the Orlando defenders surrounding him and made a quick run down towards the front post. He saw Hall trailing down the middle, made a quick cross, and Hall deflected the ball inside the top of the net for his second of the match and the two-goal lead in the 40th minute.

“We work on those type of situations in training every day. I think Michael did a great job setting me up in the system to, you know, be as much of a threat in the box as possible. So, yeah, I mean, the feeling is amazing right now, but, you know, we’re focused on the next game already, so, yeah,” said Julian Hall

New Philosophy, New attacking patterns

Seeing Red Bull New York in a different formation and a different way to attack the opposition was refreshing and breathtaking at the same time. While Orlando has a banged-up backline without RobinJanssen and now with Wilder Cartagena suffering an injury in the first half, Michael Bradley’s new game plan, along with Director of Sport Julian DeGuzman wanting to make that change, we just saw this Red Bulls team exploding with tremendous runs, using the wide spaces, filling up the area and taking chances to bury the ball. Yes, they won the match, but the way they won it was just amazing to see.

A relentless attack that looked really good right now, but even though it was a fantastic night away from Harrison, and it’s only one game, this is a performance you can be proud of from the players. If they can keep this up all season, this rebuild could be ahead of schedule. But for now, it’s only one game, and we must see what will happen when they return to Sports Illustrated Stadium

Matthew Dos Santos gets a quick call-up and Teenagers Starting

Michael Bradley called up Red Bull New York Two defender Matthew Dos Santos on a short-term loan, and out of the blue, he was pencilled into the starting eleven in this match. He didn’t disappoint and played a very strong match. joining Justin Che, Dylan Nealis, and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty on the back line. But interesting enough, Hall, Dos Santos, and Adri Mehmeti are between the ages of 16 and 17 years old, and became the youngest opening night starters in an MLS season-opening match.

“There were a lot of good things, a lot of really good things. We talked before the game about the idea that you work all preseason and then you get your chance in the first game when the lights come on to put it all to the test. You can’t ever… You can’t ever predict exactly how it’s going to go, but we will. Yeah, for the first game, there was a lot of good stuff. The team came out. Basically, they got fired. There was a lot of pressing. There was a lot of attacking on the ball. A lot of guys weren’t just standing around patiently, just making the passes, making the touches,” said Head Coach Michael Bradley

JULLIAN HALL: Scored two goals tonight, his first two of the regular season. Scored his first two-goal match

EMIL FORSBERG: Earned his first assist of the season, his career 17th assist in the MLS Regular season

CADE COWELL: Earned his first assist of the season, his first assist as a member of Red Bull New York

ADRI MEHMETI: Earned his first career MLS Asssit

ETHAN HORVATH: First career Win with the Red Bulls and first win in MLS

FIRST ROAD WIN OF THE SEASON: First road win in 2025 was at DC United on May 24th in the eighth match on the road. Tonight, the first road win on Saturday, February 21st, and the first road match of the season.

A FAMILY AFFAIR: Bob Bradley and Michael Bradley are the first Father and Son head coaching duo to earn their first win with the club, either as the MetroStars or Red Bull New York.

Red Bull New York News:

• Red Bulls Ready to Open the Season in Orlando
• Red Bull New York has Media Day Starting the New Michael Bradley Era
• Red Bull New York Waives Raheem Edwards

EA 26 Soccer

Level up your matchday between matchdays. EA 26 Soccer is out now — BUY NOW

Bad Dawg Sports: Real reporters – Real access – No nonsense

If you want more than the headline, you’re in the right place.

Bad Dawg Sports covers the Red Bulls with context — what the club is trying to build, what it’s willing to risk, and what the results actually say when the noise dies down. No recycled quotes. No empty outrage. Just reporting, analysis, and the stuff you only notice when you’re paying attention.

Subscribe to the Bad Dawg Sports newsletter — just $2/year for a limited time — and get the full week’s biggest stories, plus the behind-the-scenes layer you won’t find in the postgame soundbites.