The New York Red Bulls will have to produce a reversal of form away from home to extend a three-game winning streak as they visit Austin FC on Saturday night for an interconference match.
The Red Bulls (8-6-3, 27 points) head to the Texas capital with a season-best winning streak in league play and an eight-game regular-season unbeaten streak against Western Conference opponents. New York has not won four matches in a row since 2021.
New York was idle last weekend. Its most recent match was a 2-0 home win over Atlanta United FC on May 31. Cameron Harper racked up a goal and then an assist on Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting’s tally.
Harper’s goal — in the third minute — was the Red Bulls’ quickest this season.
“I’m very proud of the whole group in that we are going all together in the same direction,” New York coach Sandro Schwarz said. “And also when you have some difficult moments in the season, which is normal, and that we have been able to answer directly in the way how we want to play.”
The Red Bulls are just 1-5-2 on the road this season.
Austin FC (6-7-5, 23 points) return home after splitting a two-match trip that concluded with a 2-0 win in Colorado last Saturday. The victory snapped an eight-match winless streak (0-4-4) and was highlighted by five saves from Brad Stuver and the first MLS goal by Mikkel Desler.
It was Austin’s first league victory since April 19 and was aided by an own goal from Colorado in the 66th minute and Stuver’s seventh clean sheet of the season.
“If we have the mindset that we are building something right towards the end of the season, we can be successful,” Austin coach Nico Estevez said. “We have more quality than we’ve shown this year, and I think our players took that personally. We showed identity with and without the ball (against Colorado).”
–Field Level Media
