Ronald Donkor’s Winner Gives Red Bull the Full Three Points

By Daniel Feuerstein | Columbus, OH | September 12th, 2026

Red Bull New York, in their third match of the four-match road trip, came back to the East Coast after their two-goal loss at Los Angeles FC and took on a struggling Columbus Crew side who are behind them in the table of the Eastern Conference. Both sides struggled mightily on the offensive side of the ball, with poor passes and strong goalkeeping that many thought would’ve been another scoreless draw, but that one magical moment finally appeared, and it magically popped up within the final two minutes of regulation as the Red Bulls were finally off the schnid and took the victory back to Sports Illustrated Stadium as they defeated the Columbus Crew by a final score of one goal to nil.

Donkor does the damage

The Red Bulls finally were attacking and connecting that final pass in the second half to put themselves into a scoring situation, but either the shots were off target, or Patrick Schulte was doing his best to keep the ball out of his net. Finally, a moment of brilliance came when Dylan Nealis, at the top of the area, laid off a pass to Cameron Harper and was attacking with the ball heading directly for the endline. At the last moment, Harper made a cutback pass to a wide-open Ronald Donkor inside the area, and the Ghanaian smashed the ball inside the front post and squeezed it past Schulte for the winning goal in the 89th minute.

“I just saw Cam (Harper) running. I thought this ball he’s just going to cut it back. So I just have to make the run. But when I shot the ball, I didn’t really see anything. But that was a great goal, and we’re happy for the win,” said Ronald Donkor

Cameron Harper gets the start

It’s been a very long road for Cameron Harper to make this comeback after that horrible injury he suffered at Austin FC, getting stepped on from behind his right leg, and the man who fouled him never got a red card either from the referee or from the VAR Review Room. But after several matches, he came on as a substitute; Harper finally got his first start of the season, and he was spectacular, attacking down the right flank and looking dangerous with or without the ball. He had a chance earlier in the match, but hit the near post. After Donkor converted his chance, Harper was subbed out and given a hero’s welcome on the bench.

“I think everybody inside this club could not be happier for Cam. Obviously, it has been a tough 15 months for him. You go back to June of last year, the injury he had. He worked so hard on the initial recovery, but it was not a short one, and then when he gets himself back going, life can happen sometimes when you are out for a long time; there have been a few little niggling injuries that pop up- nothing serious, but things that slow you down a little bit and break your rhythm and break your ability to build yourself up again, physically and technically. So you know it has been a really long, hard period for him, but in this last stretch, as he has now found consistency, been in training on a more regular basis, now we have used him in games, and he has really helped us. So, we are really happy for Cam that he starts tonight and has the game that he does,” said Michael Bradley

Two out of three matches with a clean sheet

Since the fiasco returning from the World Cup Break, the Red Bulls’ defense, set-piece defending, and the goalkeeper have been a horror show in the first six matches, until the road trip to the West Coast and now in Columbus. Defending has been much better; set-piece defending has truly improved, and Ethan Horvath, who had only one clean sheet in the first 22 matches of the season, now has two clean sheets in these past three matches. It’s been extraordinary that the club has changed its play and has gotten two strong results after that horrible loss at home to the Philadelphia Union.

Cade Cowell changed the game

In this matchup, Cade Cowell was given the night off as a starter, but his number was called as a substitute. Once he came on for Jorge Ruvalcaba, Cowell gave that shot in the arm to put the Red Bulls on the front foot. His speed and his passing really pushed his teammates into positions to get scoring chances, and while they didn’t connect, the threat was real, and Cowell was hungry to help his club earn the full three points after facing Orlando City at home and sweeping the series. Will Cowell remain on the bench? We don’t know, but for right now, this was a fantastic result, and his influence was a big help for the club returning home.

“They spilled their guts on the field, so we are very proud of them. Proud of the 11 guys who started, the five guys who came on as reserves, proud of every single guy on the bench who did not come on. I am proud of the guys who were here with the team but not in the squad tonight; proud of the team behind the team, the staff, the medical staff, the equipment staff, the operations, the coaching staff I have around me. It is a long trip; it is as challenging a week as you can have in this league. You start with a game in Seattle on the turf, and you go to L.A. on Wednesday night; you catch Los Angeles in like two of the hottest days on record in the history of the city and then have to fly just about across the country to Columbus on Thursday.

Get in late Thursday night, do very little bit in training on Friday, and now be ready to play Saturday night. So, we took advantage of every single person here on the field, off the field, and so it is really special. It is a special feeling for the group when you can win a game like that and be rewarded for all of the work. I said to them after the game that we challenged them in this last period to believe in ourselves, believe in our ideas, believe in our football, and it has been a stretch where things have not come easy. Not everything has gone our way, but there is no reward for feeling sorry for yourself. There is no reward for stopping, complaining, or telling yourself that you are tired or angry or frustrated; you have to keep going, and the group did that in every possible way tonight. So, yes, we are very proud.” Said Michael Bradley

RONALD DONKOR: Scored his Second Goal of the Season

CAMERON HARPER: Earned his first assist of the season, his Eighth career MLS Assist

DYLAN NEALIS: Earned his second assist of the season, his tenth career MLS Assist

ETHAN HORVATH: Earned his third clean sheet of the season, his second in three matches in this four-match road trip

Red Bull New York finally gets a win as they edged the Columbus Crew at Scotts Miracle-Gro Stadium

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