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Recap: Red Bulls Draw Nashville SC 0-0

Date: March 6, 2023

By: Jonathan Heite

The Red Bulls take a shot at Nashville's net.

Kayla Fonseca/WSOU

In a tightly contested home opener match, the Red Bulls (0-1-1, 1 PTS) and Nashville SC (1-0-1, 4 PTS) finished in a 0-0 draw in front of a raucous Red Bull Arena crowd.

The match saw New York fail to score a goal for the second consecutive time to begin the season, after recently falling to Orlando City, 1-0, back on Feb. 25.

The Red Bulls’ best chance to break the scoreless streak came in the 12th minute, when John Tolkin fired a shot on the open right side of the net, but Nashville goalie Joe Willis slid over to make the stop.

Sean Nealis nearly converted on a header opportunity in the 38th minute, and Tolkin just missed the net on another scoring chance shortly after.

By the final whistle, the Red Bulls dominated possession for 58 percent of the match, in comparison to Nashville’s 42 percent. New York also tallied eight total shots, with three on goal, and Nashville ended with five shots, and none reached the goal.

Nashville won the corners battle with five compared to the Red Bulls’ three, had four yellow cards (Red Bulls finished with none), and also had two blocked shots, with the Red Bulls ending play with only one.

One other important note on the Red Bulls side is that Dante Vanzeir made his team debut in the 76th minute, much to the excitement of the home crowd. The 24-year-old Belgian forward joins the squad from Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, where he scored 48 goals and collected 21 assists in 92 appearances.

After the match, head coach Gerhard Struber echoed that despite securing their first point of the season, more work has to be done on the offensive end to start scoring some goals.

Struber said: “Thank you fans for the atmosphere today, [but] I think they deserved more from our side.”

The defense has been there for the Red Bulls, with New York only surrendering one shot on target (Orlando City) throughout these first two matches. Nealis also said after the match, “I think if we stay stout defensively, the [offensive] chances will come.”

The Red Bulls will have six days to work on their offensive game before traveling to Minnesota United FC next Saturday, March 11. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m., and their next home match will take place on Saturday, March 18, against the Columbus Crew. Kickoff will take place at 7:30 p.m.

WSOU Sports will be covering the entire New York Red Bulls 2023 campaign, and be sure to stay tuned for content on all of our social media platforms.

Jonathan Heite is an Assistant Sports Director for WSOU Sports and can be reached at jonathan.heite@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: New York Red Bulls, Sports

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