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Red Bulls Win First New York Derby

A sold out crowd welcomed this first meeting of the two New York clubs.

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Since the introduction of New York City Football Club this was the most highly anticipated fixture for both the Red Bulls and NYCFC and on Sunday, we got our first taste of this new rivalry. And once the whistle blew for kick off, the match delivered on almost everything fans could have hoped for.

Was there action? Plenty, including an early Red Bulls goal, a goal called off for NYCFC because of an offside call, a first half red card to the Red Bulls, and then a second goal for the Red Bulls down a man on the field, a late NYCFC goal, and eleventh-hour drama between the two sides amidst a vociferous crowd at Red Bull Arena.

Bradley Wright-Phillips scored the brace for the Red Bulls opening the scoring just four minutes into the match then getting his second in the 52nd minute. Those goals bookended a red card handed out to Matt Miazga who earned his second yellow card in just 36 minutes for a challenge on Khiry Shelton. Patrick Mullins did score a goal for NYCFC — the blue side of New York — in the 76th minute, but despite an almost 55-minute man advantage, NYCFC had settle for just the one goal.

It was clear that despite the one less player for the Red Bulls they were mostly the better team. Following the red card the Red Bulls looked more like a club who had been in this type of situation before. The team was calm, composed, and very compact in their defensive style as well.

A sold out crowd welcomed this first meeting of the two New York clubs and provided a European-style atmosphere. Because of the close proximity of the two teams there was about 1,500 traveling NYCFC supporters, something you might not get with other fixtures because of the long travel in the United States.

This crowd was electric — everybody felt it. In fact, Wright-Phillips commented following the match that he wished the crowd could always be like that at Red Bull Arena. If that were the case, it would undoubtedly be one of the tougher places to play in the league.

The Red Bulls look to keep the good times rolling Friday the 15th on the road in Dallas at 9:00 pm.

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