The Red Bulls surged to the top of the table righting the wrongs of last week and securing a 1 goal win on the road. The Red Bulls controlled large parts of the game and despite a missed PK and an early defensive lapse fought back and locked things down when it mattered most.
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Note: Players rated with 6 being “average”, and <15 minutes not rated.
Starting XI:
Carlos Coronel
Eric: 7.5
Coronel made many big saves to preserve the lead. The opening goal he was not at fault for. A top performance from a top player
Andrew: 8
Alexander: 7.5
Key saves that kept the team in the match. Vintage Coronel
Dylan Nealis:
Eric: 8
Dylan Nealis has gone from a depth piece to someone whose name should be locked on the team sheet. He has gone from an anchor to a reliable two-way player. Once again an impressive performance from the youngest Nealis brother
Andrew: 8
Alexander: 7.5
Another fantastic and complete match. He has earned the starting spot
Andres Reyes
Eric: 6.5
Andrew: 7
Alexander: 7
Sean Nealis
Eric: 7
Andrew: 7
Alexander: 7
John Tolkin
Eric: 6
Quiet game for Tolkin who is still coming back from a small injury. Wasn’t bad but didn’t stand out either
Andrew: 7
Alexander: 6.5
Decent match, and seems to be regaining the 2023 stand out form
Frankie Amaya:
Eric: 9
A man of the match performance from Frankie who was once again everywhere defensively. Offensively his goal was top-class. He has been a key cog for the Red Bulls this year elevating his game and his consistency to New Heights
Andrew: 9
He gets better and better. Top 5 performance from Frankie and to do it in TQL vs his former team is even better
Alexander: 8.5
Peter Stroud:
Eric: 7
Andrew: 7.5
Another strong performance from Stroud who fills in seamlessly and gives our defensive core some offensive bite
Alexander: 8
He continues to thrive in his role and was immense tonight. The quality of his switches stood out at times as well.
Wiki Carmona
Eric: 6.5
Andrew: 6.5
He, Gjengaar, and even Stroud have filled in nicely since Morgan’s move to striker, but they are more defensive engines with some offensive potential than real attacking threats. But that provides balance against Forsberg’s more forward tilting runs
Alexander: 6.5
Emil Forsberg
Eric: 7.5
First game back from injury Forsberg was dangerous in the attack and recorded an assist on the second goal. Feels like he can reach higher levels which should excite Red Bulls fans
Andrew:
Alexander: 7.5
Lewis Morgan
Eric: 6.5
The penalty could have been better but was still active in the build-up making the pass before the pass on Amaya’s goal
Andrew: 7
Alexander: 6.5
Dante Vanzeir
Eric: 8.5
A goal and assist is as good as it gets for Vanzeir. His runs were very sharp and he is finding himself in the right spots to get assists and goals. A few weeks back I said he should look to not be as perfect on his shots and force the keeper to make a save. He did that today and was rewarded with a goal after a great run and a nice piece of skill. Would have been a 9.0 if not for the 68th-minute sub
Andrew: 8.5
Alexander: 7.5
Substitutes
Kyle Duncan
Eric: 6.5
Andrew: 6.5
Elias Manoel
Eric: 6
Andrew: 6
Daniel Edelman
Eric: 6.5
Wasn’t on long but he made an impact and helped disrupt the rhythm that Cincinnati was developing