Wiki Carmona's Brace Against His Former Club Powers CF Montréal Past Red Bulls 3-0

Wiki Carmona spent five seasons with the Red Bulls, according to the AP. On Sunday, in what MLS called his first-ever match against his former club, the midfielder struck a free kick into the corner right before halftime and then pounced again after the break, and his old team had nothing in reply.

CF Montréal beat Red Bull New York 3-0 in Harrison on Sunday afternoon, with Prince Owusu converting an early penalty and Carmona adding two more in front of 16,847 fans. The result handed Michael Bradley his first loss as Red Bulls head coach, according to the AP, and the club confirmed it was New York's first defeat of the 2026 MLS season.

A Penalty, Then a Wall

The tone was set inside five minutes. Iván Jaime was fouled in the box by Justin Che in the fourth minute, VAR backed the penalty call, and Owusu stepped up in the eighth and sent a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner. The AP noted it was Montréal's first goal of the season.

The Red Bulls responded the way they would all day: with the ball, and not much else. Emil Forsberg forced a save from Thomas Gillier from outside the box a minute after the goal, and Julian Hall tested him again from distance in the 32nd minute after a pass from Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. Adri Mehmeti got his head on a Matthew Dos Santos cross from very close range in the 41st, but it was blocked.

Montréal, for its part, kept probing. Dagur Thórhallsson had a pair of attempts from distance, Carmona sent one just over the bar in the 23rd and Jaime fired high and wide off a corner in the 31st.

The Turning Point: Carmona's Free Kick

The game changed for good in the 44th minute. Carmona stood over a free kick and hit a left-footed shot into the bottom left corner. 2-0. Instead of heading into halftime with a one-goal problem, the Red Bulls went in needing two just to draw level against a team that was sitting deep and happy to let them have the ball.

No Way Back

New York never found the opening it needed after the break. Che was booked in the 50th minute, Ethan Horvath made his only save of the day on a Jaime shot in the 53rd, and Carmona dragged another effort wide in the 58th. Both coaches went to the bench in the 61st minute, Montréal changing three players at once, including Bode Hidalgo for the injured Tomás Avilés, and the Red Bulls sending on Rafael Mosquera for what the club said was his first appearance of the season.

Seven minutes later, Carmona finished the job. The Red Bulls said he recovered the ball inside the 18, the AP said he stole it, and either way the result was the same: a left-footed finish from the center of the box into the bottom left corner. 3-0 in the 68th minute.

The rest was the Red Bulls swinging at air. Gillier made saves in the 73rd and 83rd minutes, the latter from Cade Cowell, while Robert Voloder and Roald Mitchell missed the target. The club noted Mitchell's appearance off the bench was his first for New York since March 23, 2024.

Star Watch

Carmona was the story. He took four shots, put two on target and scored both. MLS said the brace was his first multi-goal game, coming in his 105th regular-season appearance, and only his third appearance for Montréal since he was acquired from the Red Bulls in the offseason. The AP added that he had six goals in 102 appearances over five seasons in New York. MLS later named him its Player of the Matchday, the first time he has won the award and the first for a Montréal player since Kamal Miller in 2022.

Gillier made four saves for the clean sheet, which the AP said was his first in his 11th career start after he conceded eight goals in Montréal's first two games. On the bench, the AP said Marco Donadel earned his first victory as Montréal's head coach.

Bradley did not hide from it. "Today is a hard lesson, but an important one, for sure," he said, before pointing at the final third. "We did not manage to take our football and our control of the game and turn it into enough big chances."

Cowell tried to keep perspective. "It's a long season, and I think we're going to go into Saturday with a clean mind and be ready," he said.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Red Bulls 67.3 percent, Montréal 32.7 percent.
• Shots: Red Bulls 12, Montréal 10, with 4 on target apiece.
• Crosses: The Red Bulls attempted 31 and completed 2.
• Clearances: Montréal 39, Red Bulls 11.
• Interceptions: Montréal 15, Red Bulls 5.

What It Means

Montréal moves to 1-0-2 with 3 points, having lost 5-0 at San Diego and 3-0 at Chicago before this. Three road games, and suddenly one of them looks like a statement. MLS noted the club now heads to Orlando City on Saturday looking for back-to-back road wins.

Red Bull New York drops to 2-0-1 with 6 points after opening with a 2-1 win at Orlando City and a 1-0 home win over New England. The AP said the Red Bulls were trying to open a season with three straight wins for the first time in club history. Instead, they begin a two-match road trip at Toronto FC on Saturday with something to fix, and the AP noted they started teenagers Hall, Mehmeti and Dos Santos for a third straight match.

Closing Take

In the NBA, they call it a revenge game, and Carmona just gave MLS a pretty good one. The Red Bulls had two-thirds of the ball, 11 corners and all the territory they wanted. Montréal had the guy who used to wear their shirt, and that turned out to be the only number that mattered.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Additional reporting from the AP via ESPN; postgame quotes and club notes as reported by Red Bull New York (newyorkredbulls.com); Player of the Matchday notes from mlssoccer.com.