Red Bulls Fall 2-0 to Charlotte FC

July 25, 2026 Sports Illustrated Stadium, Harrison, NJ

Red Bull and Charlotte FC battle in Harrison. (photo courtesy of Jason Zamora @theexchangefc)

Red Bull New York (6-7-4, 22 pts.) fall 2-0 to Charlotte FC (7-6-4, 25 pts.) on Saturday night at Sports Illustrated Stadium.

Fresh off the World Cup break the two sides were looking for a positive result. It was Charlotte who would take control of the match in the early going with two goals in twelve minutes. Charlotte would open the scoring in the seventh minute as winger Liel Abada would cross the ball to the top of the box to midfielder Pep Biel who would do well to place a one-time shot into the bottom right corner. The visitors would find a second in the 12^th minute as winger Kerwin Vargas would play a ball to the top of the box to midfielder Ashley Westwood who would lace a right footed shot into the bottom right corner of the net. Red Bulls defensive issues would continued to plague them with coach Michael Bradley not appearing to have any answers.

The Red Bulls would dominate possession (64%) and would unleash 23 shots, as they tried to get back into the match, but they would not be able to get anything past goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina, who would finish the match with five saves.

Defender Julian Bazan would make his first career MLS start for New York and Panamanian forward Mijahir Jiménez make his MLS debut during the match, subbing into the match in the 70^th minute. Red Bulls midfielder Adri Mehmeti would be sent off in second-half stoppage time after receiving his second yellow card. With the victory Charlotte FC would complete a regular-season sweep, having previously routed Red Bull 6-1 in March.

Following Saturday’s match, the Red Bulls will host Orlando City SC on Saturday, August 1 at Sports Illustrated Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET with coverage on Apple TV in English and Spanish, and Red Bulls Radio in English via the Red Bull New York app and RedBullNewYork.com.

Cade Cowell in action for Red Bull. (photo courtesy of Jason Zamora @theexchangefc)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-VTm_fGlgU

Red Bull New York 0, Charlotte FC 2

Red Bull New York: Ethan Horvath; Matthew Dos Santos (Omar Valencia, 84’), Dylan Nealis (Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, 70’), Justin Che, Julian Bazan, Adri Mehmeti, Ronald Donkor, Emil Forsberg © (Mijahir Jimenez, 70’), Jorge Ruvalcaba (Andy Rojas, 84’), Cade Cowell (Mohammed Sofo, 68’), Julian Hall

Unused Subs: Gustav Berggren, John McCarthy, Tim Parker, Nathan Worth

Charlotte FC: Kristijan Kahlina ; Nathan Byrne, Harry Toffolo (Will Cleary, 61’), Henry Kessler, Morrison Agyemang, Ashley Westwood ©, Pep Biel (Brandt Bronico, 82’), Luca De La Torre (Djbril Diani, 71’), Idan Toklomati (Archie Goodwin, 82’), Liel Abada (Tyger Smalls, 71’), Kerwin Vargas

Unused Subs: Tim Ream, Andrew Privett, Tyler Miller, Rodolfo Aloko

POSSESION: Red Bulls 64% - Charlotte 36%

TOTAL SHOTS: Red Bulls 23 - Charlotte 5

SHOTS ON GOAL: Red Bulls 5 - Charlotte 3

FOULS: Red Bulls 14 - Charlottes 5

CORNER KICKS: Red Bulls 6 - Charlotte 1

SAVES: Red Bulls 1 - Charlotte - 5

Referee: Rosendo Mendoza

AR1: Chris Wattam

AR2: Mike Nickerson

4^th Official: Edson Carvajal

VAR: Kevin Stott

AVAR: Jeff Muschik