New York Red Bulls secure third straight win against New York City FC

Bradley Wright-Phillips and Felipe Martins ensured New York Red Bulls ended this season with a perfect record against New York City FC by securing a 2-0 victory on Sunday.

The two teams met for the third and final time this year and watched the same old story play out at Red Bull Arena. NYCFC huffed and puffed with Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa all in the side, but the Red Bulls ultimately produced the two sequences required to decide the game.

Wright-Phillips capped a fine move to send the Red Bulls in front after 21 minutes. Mike Grella started the move with good work in midfield to free Kemar Lawrence on the left. Lawrence delivered an inch-perfect ball from the left that eluded NYCFC goalkeeper Josh Saunders and fell for Wright-Phillips to smash home at the back post.

NYCFC responded well enough to conceding without posing the expected threat in the final third. Lampard saw a penalty shout waved away in the second half as the visitors tried to procure their first result against the Red Bulls this season. Those efforts were ultimately in vain as NYCFC chased the game and eventually conceded the killer second goal in the final 10 minutes.

Grella once again proved influential in the buildup as he nutmegged the tiring Lampard and shifted the ball out to Felipe on the left. Felipe collected and cut inside before slotting past Saunders at the near post to guarantee the points.