It’s been quite a week for Red Bull New York star Julian Hall.
First, he earned his first senior national team call-up, and then he got to make a pretty good first impression on his new boss, U.S. men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino, who was on hand at Yankee Stadium Friday night to see Hall score the Red Bulls’ only goal in a crucial 1-0 win over New York City FC in the latest edition of the Hudson River Derby.
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Though NYCFC controlled possession for a majority of the game, it was Hall who capitalized on an unforgivable error by defender James Sands. The NYCFC defender attempted to pass the ball back to goalkeeper Matt Freese while under pressure from Hall, but the slow-rolling pass allowed the teenage star to gain possession and easily get by a desperate Freese in the 57th minute.
Julian Hall of the New York Red Bulls celebrates after his second half goal against New York City Football Club, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, at Yankee Stadium. Getty Images
The goal and win could serve as a pinnacle moment for both club and player in regard to the Red Bulls and Hall. The Red Bulls picked up a massive three points in the standings to jump back into playoff position, while leapfrogging NYCFC to move into eighth in the conference for the time being.
Though Hall has been one of MLS’ shining stars of its youth movement, he has been on a goal drought in regular-season play that dates back to mid-May, when he scored a hat trick against the Columbus Crew.
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“We wanted to build off the last game, which was Columbus, and then to come here and in a very nice stadium, very nice atmosphere, a lot of fans to [get the win],” fellow Red Bulls star Adri Mehmeti said. “Just everybody was so committed and Julian getting the goal — obviously, he knows he hasn’t scored in a long time and I could tell in training he wanted to score so bad. You can see how he’s working every single day.
“With Mauricio watching, [Hall] did what he did, he did his job.”
Julian Hall and Mohammed Sofo of the New York Red Bulls celebrate after a second-half goal against New York City Football Club at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City, Friday, September 18, 2026. Getty Images
“We’re building a lot of momentum and we’re going to keep working hard and training to build off of this performance,” Hall said.
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For most of the match, New York City FC looked as though they would find a way to put the ball in the back of the net against their biggest rival, but chance after chance went wasted by the home side, hosting the Hudson River Derby for likely the last time at Yankee Stadium before they move into their new home at Etihad Park.
Nicolás Fernández Mercau sent a ball wide of the net in the fifth minute for New York City FC and Aiden O’Neill skied a shot over the net in the 35th minute. The biggest miss came in the 53rd minute when Luighi was all alone in front of the Red Bulls net and missed wide right without any pressure around him.
The precarious loss puts New York City FC’s playoff hopes back in the balance as they dropped to ninth in the standings.
