Cameron Harper’s Equalizer Saves a Point for Red Bulls

By Daniel Feuerstein | Harrison, NJ | August 22nd, 2026

Three days after Red Bull New York had a heartbreak stoppage-time loss to Nashville SC, the club was back at Sports Illustrated Stadium to face Robert Lewandowski and the Chicago Fire. Throughout the match, it felt like the high-energy Red Bulls played with low energy and couldn’t get things going. They played from behind from the 38th minute all the way to the end of the match, till a magic moment finally happened as the home side finally got a goal and took a point as the Red Bulls stole a result and forced the Fire to drop two points as the match ended in a one goal draw.

Rainbow chip beats the Red Bulls

The Fire opened the scoring by moving the ball down the far side of the pitch. They looked to get on the board, hungry for the opening goal. Jonathan Bamba sent the ball towards Viktor Radojević as he joined Maren Haile-Selassie. They stopped just about five to six yards away from the Red Bulls’ area. Haile-Selassie got the ball and was defended well. But he stopped, made a quick cut, and delivered such a quality chip shot that the ball was so high in the air that it dipped and went underneath the crossbar to beat a leaping Ethan Horvath in the 38th minute.

Big equalizer to spark the club late

Throughout the entire second half, Michael Bradley made several substitutions to improve the match and find some energy to get the club back in the game. The Red Bulls kept creating attacking runs, but once again, nothing clicked on that final killer pass for the shot. It finally happened when Omar Valencia brought the ball down the far side and laid it off to Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. He had to get through two to three defenders to reach the endline and delivered a good cross toward the middle of the Fire’s area, then waiting for the ball was Cameron Harper as he leapt up and headed the ball past Chris Brady for his first of the season and celebrated in the 86th minute.

“My first goal back for 14 months, it’s not been easy, if I’m honest. It’s been pretty tough the last year or so. Personally, coming back from this injury, I had a lot of doubts kind of when I was coming back, and my knee it wasn’t a linear progression like some other people have. So this is just another checkpoint in my return, just to get a goal. And honestly, just to check that off is just a good relief, and yeah, I mean, I’m kind of on the come down right now, but like it was, it was just everything I could ask for,” said Cameron Harper

Poor match from start to finish

The Red Bulls were lucky to get that equalizer in the second half, as they were horrible from the opening whistle to the closing whistle. Regardless of scoring a goal and getting a point, they looked lifeless and very poor. Their passes didn’t connect, their attacking runs weren’t crisp, and it felt as if the loss from midweek was lingering in the club. While they did play three games within a week, it should’ve been a better performance. While they did get the point, it felt like one of their worst games they have played all season. While the Substitutions by Bradley were impactful at the end to boost the club, it was still a bit of a lifeless performance.

Robert Lewandowski was thwarted

In the 65th minute, Polish International and former Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, and FC Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski was subbed into the match. Once he came on, the Polish American Community from New York and New Jersey rooted for him as soon as he went into the match. He had three chances with the ball to make something happen for the Fire to add a second goal and extend the lead. It never happened as he was stopped twice by Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty and Julian Bazan. They harassed him, hounded him, and made sure he never got a shot off. One of the most dangerous strikers in World Football and two members of the back line made fabulous stops against him.

Hopefully this draw for the Red Bulls will restart a positive streak when they face the Philadelphia Union next week at Sports Illustrated Stadium and then head off on a four-match road trip as they visit the West Coast to Seattle, LAFC, then back to the East Coast to face the Columbus Crew and the Hudson River Derby against NYCFC. This will be a very big two to three weeks for the club as they attempt to hang on to their playoff spot.

“We had some good advantages down the right side in the first half. The understanding between Dylan (Nealis), Ronnie (Donkor), and Cade (Cowell) has developed in a good way, and we were able to find ourselves in some good spots. But we weren’t sharp enough. We couldn’t find the right way to finish some of those advantages and get ourselves a goal or even a big chance. Jules (Hall), playing from the left tonight, had some good moments. He goes by (Leonardo) Baroso early and gets him the yellow card. But more than looking just at Jules, I still think our football wasn’t quite as sharp as it’s been. We lost balls earlier and quicker than we have in this last period.

There were probably seven or eight moments in the first half where we won the ball and had the chance to either play forward and create an advantage right away, or at the bare minimum connect the first two or three passes so we could start to play. Instead, we lost balls quickly. That means you don’t really develop any rhythm. You can’t do the things we like to do in terms of moving up the field, pushing the other team back, finding ways to play in and around the edge of the box, and creating situations where guys are running through gaps, and others are playing off the edge. In the second half, we were more aggressive. We won balls in better spots, which then leads to being sharper. When you do lose it, you have a little more energy to counter-press and win the ball back quickly. In the end, it’s all connected,” said Michael Bradley.

Red Bull New York gets a late equalizer to save a point against the Chicago Fire

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