Red Bulls squeak over line against City with help of VAR

The New York Red Bulls knew they had a bad tournament back in Orlando when they went three and out. Knowing they needed a better start, and got that in their match against New York City FC as they won the home leg by a 1-0.

The goal came in the 59th minute as Kyle Duncan pounced on a loose ball and took a hard volley on a frame. The force of the shot hit Sean Johnson in his hands but through them, as the ball rolled towards a wide-open net.

It looked like Johnson was able to grab the ball and just barely kept it on the line, but VAR had a better angle on it. If you watch the replay, Johnson slid into the ball and tried to keep it out, but as his arms got underneath it. That showed the ball was completely over the goal line, and both VAR & Referee Allan Chapman agreed.

“I was actually saying that this was not a goal because I thought it was on the line, but I was hoping that it was.” said Kyle Duncan, “It came to the result that it was a good goal and I was pretty happy in the moment. I feel like we were putting everything out on the field and we really deserved that goal, like Jason [Pendant],

“Jason put that cross into the box and Danny [Royer] went up for the header and didn’t win it but all those things led up to me being in that spot and I was in the right spot to get that volley off and Sean Johnson just spilled [his save] and it was a goal.”

Ryan Meara earned the start in this one, with head coach Chris Armas seeming to state that Meara is now the incumbent starter after the demotion of David Jensen. He showed why he was considered a high draft pick back in 2012, coming out of Fordham University.

“On a personal level, it has been a long time coming after waiting behind Luis [Robles]. It wasn’t easy, it was tough at times, but I tried to keep a good attitude, training hard and being a good teammate over the years.” said Ryan Meara, “I think all of that was important. It was a big game for us tonight, we were disappointed coming back from Orlando. We felt like we didn’t do ourselves justice with a couple bad performances down there.

“So to put everything together right tonight against NYCFC, our big rivalry, was huge for us. We are thrilled for the three points, the shutout and we just want to build on this from here on out.”

“28 days from our last game, that’s a lot of time. I think what I’ve seen in 28 days is a real team that sticks together, and we look every day to get 1% better” said Chris Armas, “We addressed a few things. Our principles showed up on the day, we looked like a mature team in moments to kill the game off, and against a really good New York City team, we gave up 7 shots in 90 minutes, which shows that we’re understanding roles and responsibilities of how we want to defend.

“It’s a big three points, a derby match victory, really proud of the guys again. The subs came in, did I think a really good just to understand and meet the demands in the moments they did. A lot of good performances, so it’s a good team win.”

Now the club needs to look ahead to their next match, which is a road trip down I-95 to Subaru Park on Tuesday as they take on the Philadelphia Union.