John Tolkin picked up a tremendous free-kick goal and a possible injury as the New York Red Bulls earned a 1-0 victory over Orlando City on Saturday in Harrison, N.J.
The Red Bulls are the only Eastern Conference team without a loss at home this season (5-0-2). New York (8-3-5, 29 points) is 4-1-0 in its past five matches overall, with three of those wins coming on its own field.
Saturday’s defeat ended Orlando City’s five-match unbeaten streak on the road (3-0-2). Orlando (4-7-5, 17 points) is 0-2-1 in its past three matches overall.
Orlando City held 57.4 percent of the possession but were outshot by a wide 13-4 margin that included a 4-1 deficit in shots on target. A wayward Ivan Angulo shot in the 30th minute was probably the closest Orlando came to a legitimate scoring chance.
The Lions were shut out for the seventh time this season and have scored only 16 goals in 16 matches.
A quiet first half was suddenly broken open by Tolkin’s free kick in the 38th minute. Lined up about 25 yards outside the box, Tolkin blasted a perfectly placed shot into the upper corner of the net, just beyond the outstretched hand of goalkeeper Pedro Gallese.
It was the first goal of the season for Tolkin, who recently signed a contract extension with the Red Bulls that runs through the 2027 campaign with an option for 2028.
However, in the 74th minute, Tolkin had to leave the match with an apparent lower leg injury. Tolkin was hurt while fouling Angulo, leading to a whistle just moments before Elias Manoel converted a long shot for what would have been New York’s second goal.
Carlos Coronel made one save to earn his third clean sheet of the season. Coronel seemingly asked to be substituted off in the 80th minute due to some sort of injury, but he gutted out the remainder of the match after the Red Bulls instead used their final substitution to insert forward Cory Burke rather than a backup goalkeeper.
–Field Level Media
