The Youth Movement Continues; RBNY Defeats Revolution 1-0 in 2026 Home Opener

In case your social media pages haven't been flooded enough, the kids are STILL alright at Red Bull New York.

Michael Bradley and co. followed up their season opening win against Orlando City with a 1-0 victory over the New England Revolution in RBNY's 2026 home opener on Saturday at Sports Illustrated Stadium.

Using an unchanged starting eleven, the Red Bulls controlled the match from the opening whistle, and while they did not create as much danger as they did on opening night, the youthful trio of Matty Dos Santos, Adri Mehmeti and striker Julian Hall combined again for the game's only goal.

Hall's 53rd minute goal (with assists from Mehmeti and Dos Santos) was the decider on the day and it marks his league-leading third of the year (after two games and tied with Joao Klauss, but still).

Bradley made no changes from the XI that comfortably beat Orlando a week prior, choosing to burn the final MLS match on Dos Santos's short-term loan deal.

When asked about what lies ahead for the Connecticut native left back and his contract status, Bradley said, "We will sit down together very early in the week. Myself, Julian [de Guzman], Sam [Goldberg], 'Tiger' [Leslie Fitzpatrick] and now figure out the best way to move forward."

Marko Mitrovic and the Revolution were beaten badly by Nashville SC in their opening match, a 4-1 humbling at the hands of Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar.

New England changed things up from that match, welcoming back his first choice center backs in Mamadou Fofana and Brayan Ceballos. Likewise, the usual starting right back Ilay Feingold returned to the starting eleven, while Luca Langoni filled in for the injured Leo Campana in the attack, forcing Dor Turgeman to play up top.

The Red Bulls controlled the match from the opening whistle, dominating possession and dictating the pace of play. Early on, it was clear that the Revolution were content on sitting deep in their own half and invited New York to try and play through them.

It was a very different opposition than the Red Bulls had been confronted with in the previous match, as Orlando's aggressiveness was exploited by RBNY's quick and direct attacks through their wingers Cade Cowell and Jorge Ruvalcaba. New England would be a tougher cookie to crack.

New York's best opportunity in the first half, despite seeing a lot of the ball, came in the third minute when center back Justin Che stepped forward and unleashed a long shot that forced a full extension save out of Matt Turner.

New England managed one shot on target through the first 45, a near post effort from Griffin Yow that Ethan Horvath had no problem parrying aside.

Ronald Donkor was shown yellow in the 21st minute when he caught Revolution midfielder Brooklyn Raines in the face while in possession. The Ghanaian midfielder nursed a minor knock through the first half and was the only halftime substitute, making way for Costa Rican winger Andy Rojas to get his season debut as a central midfielder.

Turgeman and Yow also went into the book in the first half, but the most controversial referee's decision was for a non-call handling offense in the penalty area. Fofana blocked a shot off his hand from close range, but was confirmed to not be a penalty after a brief VAR check. Pro Referees later declared the defender's arm to be in a "justified position near the body."

Scoreless at the half.

New York picked up right where they left off in the first half, once again pushing the game forward on their terms.

They finally broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute off of a short corner routine. Dos Santos overlapped Emil Forsberg and put in a near post cross that Mehmeti flicked on for Hall to head past the veteran goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead. It was a goal built by the RBNY academy, with 17-year-old Dos Santos crossing it into 16-year-old Mehmeti, who was able to set up 17-year-old Hall for the finish.

It's the youngest trio to ever combine for a goal in league history.

For the second game in a row, Mehmeti provided the game-winning assist to Hall, who became the youngest player in MLS history, and the only teenager, to score in each of his club’s first two games to begin a season. Mehmeti became the second-youngest player in MLS history to record an assist in each of the opening two games of a season after only Freddy Adu.

Following the goal, New York kept their foot on the gas, but the game began to open up.

New England's best chance of the game came in the 68th minute when Feingold put in a dangerous cross that Yow and substitute Jackson Yueill both tried striking. Their collision scuffed the effort slightly and allowed Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty to make a heroic goal line clearance while Horvath could only watch and pray that the ball stayed out of his net.

It was the only really dangerous look from the Revolution on the day and the Red Bulls got out of it unscathed.

Bradley utilized his four remaining substitutions in the final quarter hour of the match, bringing on Juan Mina for Dos Santos to close out the game at right back (forcing Marshall-Rutty to the left), Tanner Rosborough for Cowell, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting for Ruvalcaba and Gustav Berggren for Rojas, who started to look out of place when New England opened the game up and he didn't finish out the full half as a result.

Bradley spoke about the impact of the youngsters Hall and Mehmeti after the match.

"They have their football and they have personality, and as we move through preseason and as we continued to push our group and start to figure out the best way to put it all together at the beginning of the season, it was more and more clear every day that both of these guys needed to be on the field."

Another convincing performance from the young guns at RBNY means they are a perfect two for two in the Michael Bradley era.

Bradley became the third coach in club history to win his first two matches in charge (among many other records achieved on the day for RBNY).

The Red Bulls will have a chance to extend their record to three wins on Sunday, Mar. 8 when they host a vulnerable CF Montreal side at Sports Illustrated Stadium.

Montreal have lost their first two matches by a combined score of 8-0.