Play The Kids; Michael Bradley Era Starts With a Youthful 2-1 Win At Orlando City

Red Bull New York are officially 1-0-0 in the Michael Bradley era. 

An experimental, young lineup paid off as the Red Bulls defeated Orlando City 2-1 in the opening match of the 2026 Major League Soccer season on Saturday night at Inter & Co. Stadium.

17-year-old forward Julian Hall's two first half goals were the difference as New York were on top from the opening whistle. Orlando City mounted a second half push but it was too little, too late, with substitute Tiago scoring a consolation goal in second half stoppage time.

Bradley made a bold choice for his first ever MLS starting lineup, opting to start the match with three teenagers in Hall, debutant 2008-born left back Matty Dos Santos and 16-year-old Adri Mehmeti.

It was the first time in MLS history a team started the match with three players aged 17 or younger.

Not only was it a young lineup in terms of age, but it was a brand new RBNY team with six players debuting for the club at the opening whistle (Dos Santos, Ethan Horvath, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Justin Che, Cade Cowell and Jorge Ruvalcaba) and two more off the bench (Tanner Rosborough and Juan Mina).

That's not to mention the heavily-scrutinized decision to play two natural full backs in the center of defense between Che and Dylan Nealis, who both performed admirably en route to the win. Debutant full backs Marshall-Rutty and Dos Santos, who was the benefactor of a short-term loan from MLS Next Pro affiliate RBNY II, both shined as well in their first 65 minutes for the club.

Designated Player striker and 2025 club top scorer Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting started the match on the bench alongside TAM holding midfielder Gustav Berggren. Both would be introduced into the match late in the second half.

Bradley mixed the youth on the pitch with some experience, headlined by Nealis and of course captain Emil Forsberg, who picked up a remarkable assist on Hall's opening goal.

Orlando City introduced some new faces under Oscar Pareja, as well. Namely, Brazilian defender Iago started the match at center half next to David Brekalo, who filled in for injured captain Robin Jansson, as well as Canadian international goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau, who was the Lions' best performer on the night.

Former Houston Dynamo right back Griffin Dorsey and Paraguayan center mid Braian Ojeda also made their Orlando City debuts.

More interesting than Bradley's lineup decisions, though, was the football itself. Red Bull New York dictated the game on their own terms for the entire opening 45 minutes.

In under ten minutes, New York broke the deadlock after Forsberg fought his way through traffic and set up Hall for a tap-in. 

Hall nearly added another just three minutes later but was ruled offside. Just eight minutes after that, midfielder Ronald Donkor squandered a great opportunity on a chance that originated from the left flank of Dos Santos and Ruvalcaba. 

Cowell set Ruvalcaba up in the penalty area for what could have been an easy first-time finish at the 23rd minute mark, but RBNY's newest DP scuffed the shot. Cowell later smacked a shot off the crossbar in the 27th minute. The biggest takeaway from the first half was that New York really could have had four goals or more.

New York outshot Orlando 13-2 in the first half, and Crepeau made 5 saves. Horvath was only tasked with stopping one.

And New York did capture their second eventually, with Hall getting on the end of a Mehmeti cross for his first career MLS brace and Mehmeti's first career MLS assist in the 40th minute.

Pareja made significant halftime changes and flipped the match on its head for the second 45, but the young guns of New York were not phased.

Pareja brought off dangerous winger Marco Pasalic and opted for the pacey Ivan Angulo, pushing creative playmaker Martin Ojeda to the wing and playing with two strikers in Duncan McGuire and Trinidadian international Tyrese Spicer.

This aggressive change was successful for Orlando in getting back into the match, but the New York defense was up to the task. Constantly under pressure in the second half, the Red Bulls weathered the storm until the 96th minute when Tiago tapped home an easy finish off the feed from Zakaria Taifi.

Orlando thought they had cut the lead in half earlier when Dorsey found the back of the net in the 51st minute, but the goal was disallowed after VAR ruled he had handled the ball. New York came back the other way with Forsberg hitting the post just minutes later, but the Red Bulls would spend essentially the rest of the half defending.

Horvath was especially brilliant in the second half, making three excellent saves to keep his team in the match. It was a fantastic debut for the 30-year-old who has struggled to find a home at the club level for a few seasons. He would ultimately be named player of the match for his second half heroics.

Had Orlando won, Crepeau would have been the man of the match, with the 31-year-old tallying 11 saves in the season opener. He tied the Orlando City club record with that mark.

Interestingly enough, New York looked just as confident in the match when they were on the front in the opening half and when they were forced to defend a lot in the second half. It's only been one match under Bradley, but it's the mark of a good team that they can find success even when they're not at their best.

That's not to mention that the first half of the match had fans clamoring about the intensity and aggression of this RBNY side, noting that there was no timidity or lack of direction with the team when they dominated with the ball. 

It's truly a new era for Red Bull New York.

After the match, Empire Soccer Report caught up with Bradley, who spoke about the team's defensive efforts in the second half.

"Being a team that's hard to play against, that is collective. That is everybody attacks, everybody defends. That’s the starting point. That is the identity that we have to have. But of course, within that, you need your defenders. You need your goalkeeper to also be ready to make big plays."

"I think Matty (Dos Santos) Dylan (Nealis), Justin (Che) Jahkeele (Marshall-Rutty) Juan Mina, Omar Valencia, Ethan Horvath, Gustav Berggren played a few minutes in center back when, Justin was cramping, and so those guys all deserve huge credit."

Goal-scorer Hall spoke about the team's clarity in fulfilling the coach's game plan, saying, "When we're going into this game, we want to really impose our will onto the other team. We try to lock them down as much as possible and not let them breathe. And thankfully it was working for us."

"We're going to try and take this into the next game next weekend."

New York will be back in action next week Saturday, Feb. 28 at Sports Illustrated Stadium to take on the New England Revolution for their home opener. 

The match is set to kick off at 2:30 PM EST and will be broadcast on Apple TV.