Navarro, Becher and Ostrák Lift St. Louis CITY SC to First-Ever Win Over Red Bulls, 3-0

Rafael Navarro needed five minutes. St. Louis CITY SC needed most of the rest of the night to make that goal hold up, and then, in a late flurry, they turned a nervy 1-0 into something that looked a lot like a statement.

St. Louis beat Red Bull New York 3-0 on Wednesday night at Sports Illustrated Stadium, the club's first-ever win over the Red Bulls, according to St. Louis. Navarro's early header stood alone until the 87th minute, when substitute Simon Becher beat Ethan Horvath from outside the box, and fellow sub Tomás Ostrák added a third in stoppage time. The club said the result stretched its unbeaten run to 19 matches across all competitions.

A Set Piece and a Standoff

St. Louis struck first off a dead ball. In the fifth minute, Conrad Wallem flicked on a set piece with his head, and Navarro headed it in from point-blank range into the bottom left corner. It was his fifth goal of the season, per the club.

The Red Bulls, who the club said were missing multiple starters because of national team matches, responded well. Mohammed Sofo dragged a shot just wide in the 11th minute, Roman Bürki saved from Jorge Ruvalcaba in the 15th and from Cade Cowell in the 30th, and Emil Forsberg fired narrowly wide on a counter in the 39th.

St. Louis had their own looks. Horvath saved a Carlo Holse shot from distance in the 13th minute and kept out a close-range Dante Polvara header in the 29th. But head coach Michael Bradley thought his team had the better of the night once the early goal went in. "Generally, after the set-piece goal that they scored early, the biggest chances of the game were for us," he said, according to the club.

Kids In, Clock Ticking

The second half followed a similar script. Horvath denied Navarro in the 57th minute, and Polvara headed wide off a corner a minute later. Bradley turned to youth around the hour, sending on Connor Faello and Pedro Castro for their MLS debuts. The club said Faello, at 18 years and 203 days, became the fourth-youngest defender in club history to debut in MLS.

St. Louis answered with Becher and Jeong Sang-Bin in the 71st minute. Two minutes later, Bürki made a save on an Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting shot from distance. In the 84th, Cowell had a shot blocked and Nate Worth came on for his own MLS debut, and a minute after that St. Louis sent on Ostrák and Lukas MacNaughton. That is when the visitors' bench took over.

The Turning Point

In the 87th minute, Horvath made a save on Ostrák from the middle of the box, but St. Louis kept the ball, and Chris Durkin teed up Becher for a right-footed finish into the bottom right corner from outside the area. At 2-0, the Red Bulls' push was over. Cowell forced one more save from Bürki in the 89th, and in the first minute of stoppage time, moments after Horvath stopped Jeong, Ostrák finished from the center of the box.

Bradley did not hide from the ending. "Those were bad goals to give away," he said.

Navarro, Becher and the Wingback Machine

Rafael Navarro put both of his shots on target and scored the goal that defined the night. Simon Becher scored with his only shot, and St. Louis said it was his ninth goal of the season, his 10th across all competitions and his third straight match with a goal across MLS and U.S. Open Cup play.

Tomás Ostrák put both of his shots on target in his short cameo for his second goal of the season. Conrad Wallem picked up his team-leading ninth assist, and the club said he has nine assists across his last nine matches. St. Louis added that Wallem and fellow Norwegian wingback Tomas Totland have combined for 17 goal contributions across all competitions over the last 10 matches.

Chris Durkin set up the second goal for his fourth assist of 2026, per the club. Roman Bürki made four saves for the clean sheet. On the other side, Ethan Horvath made five saves to keep it close for 87 minutes, and Sekou Kone made his first career MLS start, per the club.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: St. Louis outshot the Red Bulls 15-10.
• Shots on target: St. Louis eight, Red Bull New York five.
• Saves: Horvath made five. Bürki made four.
• Possession: St. Louis held 54.6 percent of the ball.
• Long balls: St. Louis completed 38 of 58, while New York completed 20 of 48.

What It Means

St. Louis CITY SC improve to 13-8-6 (wins, draws, losses) with 47 points and have now won three straight MLS matches. The club said it has scored three or more goals in eight of its 14 matches since MLS returned from the World Cup break. Next up is a home date with the LA Galaxy on Sunday, Oct. 11.

Red Bull New York fall to 9-6-12 with 33 points, and the two-game winning run they carried in, a pair of 1-0 wins over Columbus and New York City FC, is over. Bradley refused to lean on the missing players as an excuse, and he credited the group that did play. "I give our team big credit because, in this last period, nobody has batted an eye," he said. He also kept the bigger picture in view: "In the end, it's a frustrating night, but there's still everything to play for." The Red Bulls host San Diego FC next, on Oct. 10.

The Closing Take

For 80-plus minutes, this looked like the kind of grind that could go either way. Then St. Louis brought on fresh legs, and the game ended like a season finale that saves every plot twist for the last 10 minutes. Nineteen unbeaten across all competitions is no longer a hot streak. It is a personality.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by Red Bull New York. Additional details from St. Louis CITY SC.