Red Bulls Defeat Juárez in Shootout, Fall Short of Leagues Cup Advancement

The New York Red Bulls closed out their Leagues Cup run with a 1-1 draw against FC Juárez before prevailing 5-3 in a penalty shootout Thursday night at Sports Illustrated Stadium. While the result extended their unbeaten home streak in non-MLS regular season play to 13 matches, it wasn’t enough to keep their tournament hopes alive.

Heading into the final Phase One fixture, the Red Bulls knew a win alone wouldn’t be enough. Sitting 11th in the MLS Leagues Cup standings with four points and a plus-one goal differential, they needed a high-scoring victory to leapfrog into the quarterfinal picture. Despite controlling long stretches and ultimately winning on penalties, they couldn’t generate the offensive explosion required to advance.

The Red Bulls took the lead early in the second half when Dylan Nealis rose to meet Marcelo Morales’ set-piece delivery, heading home in the 47th minute. The Red Bulls held on to the lead until the 87th minute, when Óscar Estupiñán nodded in Jairo Torres’ cross to pull Juárez level.

The match moved directly to penalties, where AJ Marcucci’s save on Rodolfo Pizarro proved decisive. Conversions from Eric Choupo-Moting, Noah Eile, Morales, Tim Parker, and finally Emil Forsberg sealed the 5-3 shootout triumph.

“The message in the morning was to give everything and stay focused on our performance,” Head Coach Sandro Schwarz said when asked about the goal requirement to advance. “Play quickly in transition, defend together, and not think about what might happen after the game or how many goals we needed. We tried everything.”

The Red Bulls gave several younger players an opportunity, including 16-year-old Adri Mehmeti. “I’m really grateful to have the coaches’ trust to bring me to these games so I can gain experience and keep getting minutes little by little,” Mehmeti said.

While Head Coach Sandro Schwarz expressed his views in the postgame press conference, the starting lineup and the decision to bring most of the first team on only in the second half suggested that advancing to the next round of the Leagues Cup was not the top priority.

The Red Bulls had the intensity and motivation to go out and win by multiple goals to advance to the next round of the Leagues Cup but that didn’t happen. MLS regular season play continues this Sunday against Real Salt Lake.