Red Bulls Traveling to Face FC Cincinnati for a Possible Sweep

By Daniel Feuerstein | Harrison, NJ | April 24th, 2026

Red Bull New York had an amazing match in midweek against D.C. United, but sadly, their second half was horrendous, with a backline substitution, and they just held on to keep a point in a four-goal draw. Now, the club will be heading back on the road as they prepare to travel to Ohio and face FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium for a chance to sweep the series and grab the full three points against Pat Noonan’s squad. The Orange and Blue will always play tough in their own stadium, and Michael Bradley’s squad is getting ready for another big match.

The last time the Red Bulls faced FC Cincinnati was at Sports Illustrated Stadium on April 4th, with a four goals to two victory that saw some nice goals from Julian Hall, Emil Forsberg, an own goal from Cincinnati, and Mohammed Sofo. They took advantage of some poor defensive plays and were lucky with some poor miscues from FC Cincinnati on the offensive side of the ball. When a well-timed shot was needed from their opponents, a chip shot was called, and it harmlessly went wide of the far post. The Southern Ohio club has not started well and was removed from CONCACAF Champions Cup play by Tigres when they couldn’t hold the advantage on away goals.

“It’s certainly one of the unique parts of Major League Soccer that sometimes the scheduling means you can play the same team twice within a few weeks and then be done with them for the entire year. Obviously, we’ve had that with Montreal and now Cincinnati. We for sure tried to look back at the first game with them and understand a little bit of what went into that, how they played on the night, how they tried to set themselves up to deal with us, and then you compare that with how they’ve played over the last few games. And are there things that have changed? Are there new things that are there? Are there new players? Are there other little tweaks that they’ve made to what they’re trying to do? And so we take all of that into account as we prepare the group to step on the field tomorrow night,” said Michael Bradley.

April and May have become very busy months for the Red Bulls. Not just playing matches in MLS, but now facing New York City FC in the U.S. Open Cup Fourth Round Proper, after defeating the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the third round. They will face tons of action before getting to the World Cup break, where the League will suspend operations after their road match to Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, May 23rd. If the Red Bulls can earn a victory on Wednesday, April 29th, against NYCFC, they will advance to the Quarterfinals on either Tuesday, May 19th, or Wednesday, May 20th.

“Yeah, it’s a busy period. The games come thick and fast. We feel really good about the squad that we have. It’s why we train the way that we do. It’s why we push things every single day to try to have a team full of guys who are ready in any moment to step on the field,  to play the football that we want to compete. And so we feel good ahead of a busy week, you know, ahead of a busy stretch, even beyond that, that in any given moment we can put guys on the field, and they’re going to be ready. So we’ll continue to evaluate over the next 24 hours, where guys are, how guys feel coming off of Wednesday night, and then be ready to make the best decisions, and have a group that steps on the field tomorrow night, ready to go after it from the first whistle,” said Bradley

Julian Hall has been on a tear since the start of the season. Since he was given the nod by head coach Michael Bradley over Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, he has scored six goals in league play and eight in all competitions in the U.S. Open Cup. He has converted two multi-goal games, and when on the road at Inter Miami, Hall had a two-assist game for the first time in his career. In the season opener at Orlando City, Hall opened his account with a two-goal game, scoring early and late in the first half. He has worked well with Adri Mehmeti in several matches, either getting the ball from Mehmeti or against Miami, giving the ball to Mehmeti.

But seeing him at the end of the passing link from both Mehmeti and Ronald Donkor to score the opening goal against D.C. United was an amazing setup, and putting the ball into the back of the net. Yet, the result at the end of the match was disappointing for the Red Bulls, and even Hall knows they must do better when they have a two-goal lead after getting a spectacular shot from Jorge Ruvalcaba. Hall knows they need to do better.

“We demand much better from ourselves. And it’s a team effort in training and especially in the games, to bring good results. And we thought we did well in terms of pushing the game forward and creating a lot of chances, but you know, how can we be better in terms of as a team, not conceding as many goals? So, you know, I think that’s a big focus in training. And I’m very positive that we’ll apply that tomorrow,” said Julian Hall.

So far, we have seen some good and we have seen some bad from the Red Bulls to start the season. Even though they are around the eighth position in the Eastern Conference, this has been a good start for this young and exciting Red Bulls side. While there have been some frustrating moments and poor games that have been played, they were able to get back on their feet and find ways to get points on the table. If they can shake off the draw from midweek against D.C. and get a big road win at FC Cincinnati, then the positive vibes will return to the locker room.

Red Bull New York will be away at FC Cincinnati, playing in TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. The match starts at 7:30 PM Eastern. The Broadcasters in English are Tony Husband & Ross Smith. In Spanish, Alejandro Figueredo & Tony Cherchi

MATCH OFFICIALS:

REF: Fotis Bazakos
AR1: Felisha Mariscal
AR2: Mike Nickerson
4TH: Edson Carvajal
VAR: Michael Radchuk
AVAR: Kevin Huet

Red Bull New York is preparing for their big road trip to face FC Cincinnati, as they are looking for a series sweep when they battle on Saturday at TQL Stadium in the Queen City.

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