Red Bulls Destroyed by the Union Again at Home

By Daniel Feuerstein | Harrison, NJ | August 29th, 2026

Red Bull New York was trying to build off the comeback draw against the Chicago Fire last weekend, as they were ready to face the red-hot Philadelphia Union. But once again, they were outclassed, outhustled, and outscored. While the Red Bulls had their chances to convert something in this match within the first 50 minutes, everything fell apart, and the club walked off the field dejected and scratching their heads, wondering why they can’t convert their chances. After the full 90 minutes were over, the Union would continue to climb the ladder of the Eastern Conference to reclaim a playoff spot as they won the match by a final of three goals to one.

Bouncing ball confuses the backline

It was a strong start for the home side as they were attacking right away. But as the first half was going along, the Union once again found a way to get the opening goal and confused the defenders inside the area. A long ball was curled towards the near corner as Danly Jean Jacques got the ball and crossed it into the area. As the ball bounced away, two defenders and Ethan Horvath looked confused, while Milan Iloski was within their space. Indiana Vassilev crossed the ball back toward the net, and Iloski was in the right place to tap it in past Horvath in the 21st minute.

A smasher by Caven

When the second half began, the Red Bulls quickly got the jump on the Union, and unfortunately for Julian Hall, his shot nailed the back post and out. That moment quickly soured the home side, but for the Union, they took it as a chance to get a second goal and did so. Jean Jacques was moving the ball up the pitch and made a nice pass toward the path of Caven Sullivan. As he got the ball, Caven stopped his run for a cutback and stepped back a few steps, then ripped a nasty shot that beat Horvath in the 50th minute. Red Bulls couldn’t convert their chances as the Union took advantage of it.

Another set-piece goal allowed

After the Union made their first substitution of the night, they had a set piece along the near side after Quinn Sullivan subbed in for Indiana Vassilev. Iloski took the free kick instead of Kai Wagner and bent the ball inside the area. Creating a flick header was Bruno Damiani, towards the far post, and making the run with a sliding challenge was Neil Pierre as he went to ground and bunted the ball past Horvath at the far post in the 65th minute, and it was three straight for the Union and the full three points were in the bag.

“I mean, it’s just frustrating. Even if we create a lot of chances and make some good plays, you still have to defend your own box, defend your own goal, and not concede. I think, in the end, with what we’re doing, sometimes it’s just too easy — the goals we concede are too easy — and then we have to bounce back. We have to hold each other accountable and start winning games. It’s a tight table. If you look at it, we’re still in a playoff spot, but it’s time to get better. It’s time to do things better. As of now, we have to move forward and do better. There’s no way around it. We have to do much better,” said Emil Forsberg

Clean sheet ripped and nothing more

After coming on at the start of the second half, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting played the full second 45 minutes and chipped it over Andre Blake to score his third goal of the season in the 74th minute. They couldn’t get a second with 15 minutes remaining in the match, plus four minutes of second-half stoppage time, and the Red Bulls ended the home stand with one point. The only moment of poor defending was on the first goal; Caven Sullivan’s tally was unstoppable, and once again, set-piece defending failed the club. After a decent first half of the season before the World Cup break, everything has fallen apart. This slump has worsened, and their goal-scoring abilities have disappeared.

While Julian Hall signed his new extension, his slump is now at seven matches after the break, nine matches altogether after his hat trick against the Columbus Crew. The defense has worsened, and the game plan looks to be broken. The club can’t score either a goal or more than a goal, and their position for the playoffs in the Wild Card is getting dangerously close to losing that spot and going below the line. There is still barely enough time to make a transfer, but I don’t think bringing back Caden Clark is enough to fix this situation. Now it’s off to a four-match road trip to the West Coast, then back to Columbus and NYCFC. It’s looking very bleak right now.

“There’s accountability every day, so we promise you that we look hard at every little thing, we’re very honest with ourselves. We have a really good way of working, of looking at things, of understanding the things that have to continue to get better, of understanding the mistakes that have to get cut out. But it’s not just as simple as to say that’s unacceptable, and all of a sudden it’ll never happen again,” said Michael Bradley

ERIC MAXIM CHOUPO MOTING: Scored his third goal of the season, his 20th career MLS Goal

MOHAMMED SOFO: Earned an Assist, his first career MLS assist

RONALD DONKOR: Earned an Assist, his 6th of the season, and 10th career MLS Assist

Red Bull New York falls again as they were destroyed by the Philadelphia Union

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