RECAP: Julian Hall Makes History, Red Bull Down Columbus, 3-2
Red Bull New York scored a huge win over Columbus Crew, 3-2, on Wednesday night thanks to Julian Hall.
The Manhattan native and RBNY’s leading goal scorer netted a hat-trick to lift his team to a second straight win.
Overall, the defense had suspect moments, with a bad giveaway leading to a goal and a penalty kick conceded.
Again, New York couldn’t hold a clean sheet.
But it was a positive night.
“It’s an interesting game, it’s an interesting night. I mean, we score some very good goals. We create a few other really big chances,” head coach Michael Bradley said.
“They have the ball in some cases, but from the run of play, they don’t create much. They don’t create much at all. And so against a team, a good team that has good ideas of their own, we still made the game pretty hard on them, so that that part is positive.”
Hall and Cowell Connection Continues
Red Bull entered the game with a pretty standard starting lineup. One change, however, saw Dylan Nealis start as the second center back next to Tim Parker.
Columbus seemed to have the momentum early with early possession. But against the run of play, New York opened the scoring in the seventh minute. A bad defensive play by the Crew allowed the ball to reach Midfielder Emil Forsberg. He played a wide through ball into the box to winger Cade Cowell, who put in a cross into the six-yard box. Julian Hall stopped his momentum, went to the ground, and redirected the ball from behind to place it into the back of the net.
The game slowed from there, but the Crew never went away. Like New York, Columbus took advantage of bad defense.
In the 22nd minute, high pressure saw Forsberg over-shoot a pass in the New York end, setting up André Gomes for a run. He passed to midfielder Hugo Picard on the left, who played a cross towards the middle of the box to defender Max Arfsten. The defender placed a left-footed shot into the top left corner of the net that had no chance of being stopped.
A lot of Columbus’ success on the night came from space just being open. Looking up from the ball and realizing they could do something.
However, the Cowell to Hall connection came up again in the 40th minute. Defender Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty played a through ball down the right wing to Cowell. All of this was set up by a clean tackle at midfield, which Columbus waited for a whistle that never came.
The winger put in a line drive cross into the box to Hall, who placed it into the back of the net with one redirecting touch.
“I’ve said it before in past interviews, like he’s (Cade Cowell) set me up for so many goals, and playing with someone like him and Jorge (Ruvalcaba) as well. You know his skill. It’s amazing to have two guys that can help me, and then I can help them in some ways,” Hal said after the game.
“And we’ve been building great chemistry within the team, and we’re just happy to get the three points.”
Hall Trick for Julian
New York brought on Omar Valencia for Matthew Dos Santos at halftime, and it wouldn’t take long for him to make an impact. In the 61st minute, a cross was hit in the box that hit off Valencia’s arm. The referee called for a penalty kick, explaining later that the defender had unnaturally enlarged his body by positioning his arm.
Second-half sub and Crew mainstay Diego Rossi stepped up to the spot and converted to make it 2-2.
While goalkeeper Ethan Horvath made some good saves on the night and even guessed correctly on the penalty kick, poor defense looked set to cost New York points once again.
However, Hall played the hero. In the 79th minute, a corner kick by winger Rafael Mosquera reached the far post and midfielder Gustav Berggren. He headed the ball towards the goal, where it hit off Columbus players but remained in play. Hall stretched his body and went for a weak kick into the right corner to make it 3-2.
New York is the winner of two straight. Julian Hall is still on a hot streak.
Overall Thoughts
Hall scored his seventh, eighth, and ninth goals of the season and is tied for the fourth-most goals scored in MLS. In all competitions, he has 12 goals and is only 18 years old.
His first hat-trick makes history as well; he became the youngest player in MLS history to score a hat-trick, doing so at 18 years and 50 days old.
“Jules is a great kid. Nothing’s going to his head. He comes in every day, ready to work, ready to train, ready to listen,” Bradley said of his young striker.
“You know, he has a great personality, he has really good starting points as a player, and I’ve enjoyed every second of working with him. And so we’re going to continue to challenge him, push him, and find the right ways to help him improve. But obviously we’re, we’re really, really excited for him.”
With MLS All-Star voting now open, Coach Bradley was asked by New York Sports Nation if he believes his forward should be voted in. He laughed, checked if a coach could vote for his own player (they can’t), and said that if he were a coach of another team, he would vote for him. However, while the team would be proud, he emphasized that being an All-Star isn’t anyone’s main goal right now.
On the other side, Cowell provided his fourth and fifth MLS assists of the season and is tied for the fourth-most in MLS this year. Things might just be starting to click for the team. Red Bull is sixth in the Eastern Conference and has won two games in a row, six critical points.
It is a short rest for Red Bull as they are back home this weekend. RBNY will host New York City FC in the regular season at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Saturday night. It comes only a few weeks after NYCFC knocked RBNY out of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
“It’s a big time to go into a derby with confidence. Everyone’s feeling good, so hopefully we can get another one this weekend,” defender Justin Che said after the match.
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