Julian Hall, 18, Becomes MLS's Youngest With Five Goals in a Season's First Six Appearances as Red Bulls Win

Two weeks ago, Red Bull New York left Charlotte with a 6-1 loss and a long international break to stew on it. On Saturday night, an 18-year-old made sure nobody in Harrison was still talking about that.

Julian Hall scored his fifth goal of the season, Emil Forsberg bent in a gorgeous free kick, and the Red Bulls beat FC Cincinnati 4-2 at Sports Illustrated Stadium. Cincinnati's Kyle Smith managed the rare double of scoring at both ends, Mohammed Sofo sealed it in stoppage time, and New York climbed to 3-1-2 with 10 points. Cincinnati fell to 2-0-4 with 6.

Hall Writes His Name in the Record Book

It took 12 minutes for Hall to make history. Cade Cowell beat his man down the right and whipped a cross into the six-yard box, and Hall finished left-footed from point-blank range. According to the Red Bulls, that made Hall the youngest player in MLS history to score five or more goals in his first six appearances of an MLS season, at 18 years and 11 days old. MLSsoccer.com added that he has scored in four of his six appearances this season.

"I'm just really happy the boys bounced back," Hall told the MLS 360 panel, per MLSsoccer.com.

Cincinnati answered fast. In the 17th minute, Kévin Denkey set up Pavel Bucha, and the midfielder drove a right-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner. FC Cincinnati said it was Bucha's first goal of the MLS season.

The rest of the half was a track meet. Denkey was caught offside three times between the 23rd and 31st minutes, Evander and Ender Echenique forced Ethan Horvath into saves, and Nick Hagglund headed an Evander cross at Horvath. At the other end, Evan Louro stopped Cowell and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty. It went to the break at 1-1, and both teams had reasons to feel good.

Forsberg's Free Kick Flips the Night

Three minutes into the second half, Forsberg stood over a free kick and struck it right-footed into the top left corner. The Red Bulls' recap said it went in bar down, which is the soccer equivalent of a perfect swish. MLSsoccer.com noted it was his first goal of 2026. The club added that his 21 career MLS goals tie him with Lloyd Sam for the third-most by a midfielder in club history.

Head coach Michael Bradley clearly enjoyed it. "But for him to score the free kick tonight, in that moment, that was a great goal and really important," he said of his captain, per MLSsoccer.com.

Cincinnati kept pushing, with Denkey heading just wide off a Bryan Ramírez cross in the 65th minute, but the hosts struck again almost immediately. In the 65th minute, Cowell's cross, as the Red Bulls described it, was diverted into his own net by Smith for a 3-1 lead.

Then Smith flipped the script on himself. In the 72nd minute, he finished from very close range to cut the deficit to 3-2, and FC Cincinnati said it was his first goal for his hometown club. Not many players get to experience the full emotional range of a soap opera in seven minutes. Smith did.

Sofo Slams the Door

Pat Noonan's side went for it, sending on Kenji Mboma Dem, Alvas Powell and Teenage Hadebe in the 75th minute and Ayoub Jabbari in the 84th. Mboma Dem nearly headed in an equalizer from a corner in the 76th, and Jabbari and Mboma Dem both had efforts blocked late.

The Red Bulls had the answer off the bench. Sofo replaced Jorge Ruvalcaba in the 80th minute, and three minutes into stoppage time, Ronald Donkor slipped him through. Sofo finished left-footed into the top left corner for 4-2, and the Red Bulls said it was his first goal of 2026. Powell was then sent off in the fifth minute of stoppage time, a sour final note for the visitors.

Who Stood Out

Hall is the headline, obviously. One goal on three shots doesn't sound like a monster stat line, but the timing and the history do the talking. He was in the right place, at the right time, which is the oldest striker skill there is.

Cowell might have been the most dangerous player on the field. He supplied the cross for Hall, created the own goal per the club and took three shots of his own. Forsberg delivered the moment of quality that broke the game open, and Donkor's vision on the fourth goal capped a busy night that also included a yellow card.

For Cincinnati, Bucha's strike was a highlight, and Evander kept testing Horvath with two shots on target. Denkey had an assist but spent too much of the night on the wrong side of the last defender, finishing with five offsides by himself.

The Turning Point

The 48th-minute free kick. Cincinnati had matched the Red Bulls blow for blow in the first half and arguably had the better chances around the half-hour mark. Forsberg's strike gave New York a lead it never gave back, and it forced Cincinnati to chase, which opened the space Sofo eventually exploited.

Stats That Matter

• Shots on target: 6 apiece, with 18 total shots for the Red Bulls and 17 for Cincinnati.
• Saves: Horvath made 4 saves; Louro made 3.
• Offsides: Cincinnati was flagged 5 times, all of them on Denkey.
• Possession: The Red Bulls held 52.3% of the ball.
• Corners: Cincinnati won 6 corners to New York's 2 and still came up short.

What It Means

The Red Bulls snapped a three-match winless run, after a 3-0 home loss to CF Montréal, a 1-1 draw at Toronto FC and the 6-1 loss in Charlotte. The club also noted it moved to 8-4-3 against Cincinnati. Bradley summed it up after the match: "Really, really happy to score four goals," he said, per the Red Bulls. Next is a trip to Inter Miami CF and Nu Stadium on Saturday, April 11.

Cincinnati has lost four of its six matches and heads to Toronto FC next Saturday, April 11. The attack can score, with six goals in its last two games, but a defense that conceded seven across those two matches is a problem.

Closing Take

Hall is 18 and already rewriting the record book, which feels like the opening montage of a coming-of-age sports movie. The Red Bulls needed a reaction after Charlotte. They got one, and they got a teenager who keeps showing up in the box at exactly the right moment.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by the Red Bulls and MLSsoccer.com; additional details from FC Cincinnati.