Red Bull News Network

photo by Matt Kremkau CHESTER, PA - And so, just like that, the New York Red Bulls season came to a sudden and painful end. But, before we get to that point. Let's talk about how we got here and, afterward, where they are going. The 2021 season began with, let's say, some trepidation among the fanbase. There was some considerable turnover. Fifteen new players arrived in an aborted training camp because of the COVID-19 pandemic that raged unabated worldwide, prompting the team and the league to adopt stringent protocols. Gerhard Struber was brought in from Barnsley of the English Premier League to lead a group of young but largely unknown players in a market that demands star power, especially if your team's nickname has the words "New York" in front of it. Because of this, the various pundits and experts gave the team a low chance of having a successful season, let alone making the playoffs at all. With such an unproven foreign coach and the low-wattage tale

Photo courtesy of Kassel Leventhal NASHVILLE, TN - Fabio and Hany Mukhtar traded goals for their teams as the New York Red Bulls and Nashville SC battled to a draw on Sunday night. New York clinched their 12th consecutive postseason appearance with the draw, which is the longest streak of any New York metro area sports team and is the second-longest active streak in Major League Soccer. The Red Bulls got on the scoreboard just thirty-five seconds into the match as Cristian Casseres brought the ball down the sideline and found Fabio in the middle of the box. Then, he brought the ball down with one motion and slotted it past Joe Willis to give the visitors the early lead, stunning the home supporters into relative silence. All season long, Nashville has been a constant threat during set-pieces. They almost equalized in the 16th minute when defender Walker Zimmerman got a free header in the box as he slipped by Sean Davis, but the ball whistled high and over the net, to the visitors'

photo by Matt Kremkau HARRISON, NJ - With the New York Red Bulls needing only a win to punch their ticket for the playoffs for the 12th straight season. However, Atlanta United had other ideas as they dragged the home side to a disappointingly scoreless draw at Red Bull Arena Wednesday night. With the draw, New York sits in seventh place with 47 points in the Eastern Conference, only one point above the playoff line with one match left in the 2021 MLS regular season. The match began with head coach Gerhard Stuber serving a one-match ban from yellow card accumulation, he watched in frustration as his side dominated possession, but could not get past the Atlanta defense, who basically sat back, patiently waiting their chance on the counterattack. Atlanta United's head coach Gonzalo Pineda and his team had a simple, yet effective game plan: Bend, but don't break. And for the most part, they withstood virtually everything the New York threw at them as they out-shot the visitors by

photo by RB Leipzig RB Leipzig were disappointed with their 1-1 draw away against Eintracht Frankfurt, especially since they were leading well into stoppage time. The dropped two points would have moved club into a European position in the Bundesliga but instead leaves them adrift in eighth place. "We had the win in our hands," said manager Jesse Marsch after the game. "I always had the feeling we'd get ourselves into trouble if we didn't get a second goal, and that's what happened." A first half goal from Yussuf Poulsen gave Leipzig a lead that they held onto quite stoutly. They nearly doubled the lead on several occasions, most notably a missed empty net by Emil Forsberg late in the game. It is another in a long list of missed opportunities for a Leipzig team that has struggled to gain consistency under the new American coach. "In the attack we're not focused enough," said Marsch. "At the back we make mistakes that are too simple. We