BRONX, N.Y. — Since the commencement of the Hudson River Derby in 2015, the New York Red Bulls have consistently sought to disrupt the rhythm of New York City FC.
Whether under Jason Kreis, Patrick Vieira or now Dome Torrent, City’s aspiration is to control the match through superior possession — with a concerted effort to build the attack from the back by the latter two managers. In this derby series, the Red Bulls have largely had success by countering with a high-pressing, physical brand of soccer.
In the minimal confines of Yankee Stadium Saturday night, Torrent’s side displayed tactics and technique that were able to neutralize the afflictions of the past. And in the 14th regular-season match of the rivalry, New York City (13-5-8) rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Red Bulls.
“Especially, I’m very happy because we were able to make a good buildup — a short build up,” Torrent said in reference to his preferred style. “It’s not easy in our stadium against these kind of teams. When I talk about personality, it’s about that. We have to take risks. We play much better when we play short and we have a clear style that we practice in the facility. When that happens here, the coach is very happy.”
NYCFC had more than an hour of command, with four shots that stuck the bar or post. However, the Red Bulls (12-11-5) unsettled the home team to earn a 1-0 advantage when New York City native Alex Muyl powered a shot past Sean Johnson in the 1oth minute.
Ultimately, Maxi Moralez drew a penalty on Michael Murillo two minutes from halftime and converted the spot kick for his seventh goal. Moralez added his MLS-leading 18th assist on the game-winner by Hebér in the 53rd minute.
“You can’t give things away like this, you can’t make those errors,” Red Bulls coach Chris Armas lamented in the postgame press conference. “And some guys go down easy. I mean, Murillo doesn’t look like he does that much and Moralez just falls over it. Maybe every time on a corner kick there should be penalties.”
The penalty was served in the run-of-play after a through-ball from Alexandru Mitriță.
Without the interruption of a question, Armas then specified his dismay with City’s end-of-game tactics.
“It’s probably worth talking about, I’ve not been in a game this year with that much time wasting from a team — that was really disappointing to see,” Armas said. “I’ll tell you, no one paid to come here in a derby match to see this type of stoppages and delaying. For me, no good. Our league should look at that and say how do we manage that. Do you pull out yellow cards?”
The second-year Red Bulls coach continued to lament his rival’s tactics.
“It slows the rhythm down, it breaks the rhythm,” Armas said. “Is that the league we’re going to be? Our guys come here and we’re trying to push a game. OK, teams can slow things down, fair enough, but to take it to that degree? No one came here today to see that, not even their supporters — really disappointing. I mean, our team would never do this.”
Despite the grievances that come with rivalry matches, the two managers showed each other respect by exchanging bottles of wine. Torrent gifted Armas a bottle prior to the Saturday game, reciprocating after Armas had presented the City manager a bottle of red wine before the first derby match this season at Red Bull Arena.
New York City earned a split of the season series, while the Red Bulls maintain the overall lead with a 7-5-2 record. NYCFC is 5-3-2 in the last 10 derby contests after dropping the first four in the cycle by a combined score of 13-2.
While excessive stalling schemes may not be in the Armas’ repertoire, his team’s tactical fouls served to destroy the tempo of the match. The infractions are an alternate form of time wasting. The Red Bulls committed 12 fouls in the first half with the intent to impede City’s ability to develop a rhythm, and the disruption of rhythm was the very issue the former USMNT midfielder took with NYCFC near the end of the match.
Torrent was asked about New York City’s approach in the latter stages of the victory.
“I agree with Chis,” Torrent said with a sardonic smile and tone. “If for Chris the game is the last 10 minutes when the opponent hit the crossbar three times and one post, I agree with Chris.”