Julian Hall Scores Twice as Red Bulls Beat Orlando City 2-1 in Michael Bradley's Debut

Michael Bradley's first lineup as Red Bull New York head coach looked like it had been picked off a high school honor roll. By the final whistle, it looked like a stroke of genius. Julian Hall, 17, scored twice in the first half, and the Red Bulls held on to beat Orlando City 2-1 on Saturday night at Inter&Co Stadium.

MLS said the Red Bulls became the first team in MLS history to start three players aged 17 or younger in a regular-season match: Hall, 16-year-old midfielder Adri Mehmeti and 17-year-old defender Matthew Dos Santos. They played like they had been doing this for years. Orlando only found a reply through debutant Tiago in the sixth minute of stoppage time, and by then the 24,453 fans had spent most of the night watching Maxime Crépeau make save after save.

Hall Gets Going Early

The Red Bulls came out flying. Cade Cowell tested Crépeau in the fifth minute after a Hall pass, and three minutes later the visitors were ahead. The AP described a Cowell pass that Emil Forsberg carried through a crowd before teeing up Hall, who finished from very close range. 1-0.

Orlando's night got worse in the 14th minute when Wilder Cartagena went off injured, replaced by Colin Guske. The Red Bulls kept coming in waves. Crépeau saved from Jorge Ruvalcaba in the 12th and 27th minutes and from Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty in the 24th, and Cowell smashed the crossbar from a tight angle on the right after a fast break in the 27th. Orlando's only first-half shot on target was a Marco Pasalic effort from distance that Ethan Horvath saved in the 31st.

The pressure finally told again in the 40th minute. After a run of Red Bulls corners, Mehmeti teed up Hall, who fired in from very close range to the top left corner. 2-0. Tyrese Spicer was booked in first-half stoppage time, and Orlando went to the locker room lucky it was only two.

"The first half was probably the worst we have played in our time here in Orlando. No excuses," Orlando head coach Oscar Pareja said afterward.

Orlando Wake Up

Pareja made two changes at halftime, sending on Iván Angulo for Pasalic and Nolan Miller, making what Orlando called his professional debut, for Iago Teodoro. The second half looked like a different team. Adrián Marín went high and wide in the 47th minute, and Braian Ojeda, Duncan McGuire and Spicer all had shots blocked between the 51st and 55th. Miller's header from a Martín Ojeda cross narrowly missed the top right corner in the 61st, Horvath saved from Martín Ojeda in the 64th and from Griffin Dorsey in the 70th, and Angulo had a close-range header blocked in the 74th.

The Red Bulls still carved out chances on the break. Crépeau stopped Forsberg in the 59th, Hall in the 80th and two more in the 85th. Justin Che and Mehmeti were both booked along the way.

The Turning Point: Crépeau Keeps It Alive, Horvath Shuts It

Crépeau's 11 saves are the reason this was still a game deep into stoppage time. Tiago, on for Spicer in the 76th minute for what the AP called his MLS debut, had a header blocked in a triple-block scramble in the 83rd and a shot saved by Horvath in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Two minutes later he finally beat Horvath, finishing a Zakaria Taifi pass with his left foot into the bottom left corner. 2-1.

There was no time left for more. Horvath's four saves, especially the ones on Martín Ojeda and Dorsey, were the difference between a nervy win and a dropped lead.

Star Watch

Julian Hall finished with four shots, three on target and two goals before Tanner Rosborough replaced him in the 87th. Per the AP, the second was the fifth goal of his career. Bradley was effusive: "Julian is a really talented young player, and it's easy to forget how young he still is because he's been a professional for a few years and has some really big qualities."

Adri Mehmeti, whom MLS called the second-youngest player ever to start for the club, assisted the second goal. MLS noted Mehmeti and Dos Santos were key pieces of Bradley's Red Bull New York II side that won the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro Cup.

Cade Cowell led the Red Bulls with five shots, three on target, plus the crossbar. Emil Forsberg set up the opener and put two of his four shots on target.

Maxime Crépeau made 11 saves in what the AP said was his first start in goal for Orlando and his 200th career start. That is a heroic number in a losing effort.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Red Bulls 22 with 13 on target; Orlando 17 with 6 on target.
• Saves: Crépeau 11, Horvath 4.
• Corners: Red Bulls 9, Orlando 5.
• Clearances: Red Bulls 42, Orlando 25.
• Possession: Red Bulls 52 percent, Orlando 48 percent.

What It Means

Red Bull New York opens at 1-0-0 with 3 points and hosts the New England Revolution in its home opener at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Feb. 28. "We've got to keep pushing him so that he can take the next step, and tonight was a really good start for him," Bradley said of Hall.

Orlando City starts at 0-0-1 with 0 points and hosts Inter Miami on March 1, a matchup with some sting after Miami's own 3-0 loss at LAFC. "Frustrating. The result was not what we were expecting, but there are positives to take from it," Miller said. Pareja put it bluntly: "The first half was terrible and the second was much better."

Closing Take

Red Bull New York trusted the kids and the kids delivered, like a garage band that walks into its first big gig and nails the opener. Orlando found its voice after halftime, but by then Hall had already written the headline.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by mlssoccer.com and Orlando City SC (orlandocitysc.com); additional reporting from the AP via ESPN.