The New York Red Bulls rallied from an early deficit to defeat the San Jose Earthquakes, 4-1, Saturday afternoon at Red Bull Arena.
Alex Muyl, who came on for an injured Florian Valot late in the first half, scored two Red Bulls goals 20 minutes apart, while Bradley Wright-Phillips and Danny Royer struck late.
Cristian Espinoza scored his first MLS goal in the 5th minute, slotting a low shot inside the far post after a feed from Magnus Eriksson.
Muyl leveled in the 51st minute with an open tap-in off a pass from Royer, who ran onto the rebound of a saved Wright-Phillips attempt.
Muyl then scored the winner in the 71st minute following a free kick that started with Sean Davis playing to an overlapping Royer. He stepped around Marcos Lopez and sent a cross that took a slight deflection off Judson before landing to Muyl, who finished first time.
Wright-Phillips added an 85th minute insurance goal on his final touch of the ball before making way for Mathias Jorgensen to make his MLS debut and Royer got a deserved goal four minutes later.
Goals
- 5’ — SJ — Cristian Espinoza | WATCH
- 51’ — RBNY — Alex Muyl | WATCH
- 71’ — RBNY — Alex Muyl | WATCH
- 85’ — RBNY — Bradley Wright-Phillips | WATCH
- 89’ — RBNY — Danny Royer | WATCH
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: After a lackluster first half, the Red Bulls played an inspired second half and were able to celebrate their first win of the year thanks to a brace from an unlikely source. The Quakes squandered their best chance for all three points when they didn’t put away another of their first-half chances.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Muyl’s first-ever brace was straight off the training ground with a perfectly-executed free kick that Davis and Royer discussed moments earlier.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: Yes, Muyl struck for a brace, but Royer had a hand in three of the goals, setting up two and scoring one of his own.
Next Up
- RBNY: Saturday, March 23 vs. Orlando City SC (7:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, on DAZN in Canada)
- SJ: Saturday, March 30 vs. LAFC (3:30 pm ET | Univision, Twitter, MLS LIVE on DAZN)
