HARRISON, NJ — Justin Haak and Raul Gustavo, two New York City FC (NYCFC) defenders, were crucial in their 3-2 Hudson River Derby win against their cross-town rivals New York Red Bulls.
After all the build-up and the fireworks pre-match, it only took 95 seconds for Nicolás Fernández Mercau to ruin the Red Bulls’ night, with the help of Justin Haak.
Haak, the NYCFC defensive midfielder who has played at the heart of the defence next to Thiago Martins all season long, found himself within 20 yards of the opposition box in the first minute of the match for Fernández Mercau’s opening strike.
“It’s part of our toolbox,” Jansen said after the match. “We’re always aiming to get the first goal, so it was a fantastic start for us. It was pretty even today [like against Miami,] but what I mentioned at halftime was to make sure it doesn’t bite you in the behind. The resilience was there; we had a couple of chances to finish it off.”
Martins lifts NYCFC to Hudson River Derby win, all but extinguish Red Bulls’ playoff hopes
The addition of Gustavo in the summer allowed head coach Pascal Jansen to push the Brooklyn native further up the pitch, while still tending to his duties as the lowest progressive passer for NYCFC.
“The keyword this moment with Justin is in particular very interesting because we chose to set up today with Raul instead of Kevin O’Toole,” Jansen said. “It gave us the flexibility to bring Justin into midfield and still have the security behind the ball with Gustavo, Thiago, and Tayvon [Gray].”
The No. 80 threaded the ball into Fernández Mercau’s stride, and the Argentine coolly slotted into the far corner, stunning the home crowd and sending the blue away section into raptures.
“On that play, Pascal always lets me get forward and get on the front foot,” Haak revealed to amNewYork after the match. “I saw the right ball and Nico was in the right spot to finish.”
Gustavo, a left-footed defender, can play at either full-back or center-back on the left side of the defence. His athleticism and ball-playing ability have provided the defensive stability to push another player up the pitch and overload the midfield.
With a lead to protect now, the usually possession-heavy Boys in Blue were happy to sit back and let the Red Bulls create chances.
The game plan worked for 20 minutes. City had a little over a third of the share of possession, but kept the Red Bulls quiet — no player in a red shirt registered a shot until Hall’s equalizer. Freese did not see any action until a wayward cross from his right flank rolled his way at that point.
“Having [Raul] and Thiago, when they play together and add me into the equation, we’re very hard to beat defensively and very secure back there,” Haak said.
Straight from the off again, the Boys in Blue worked themselves up the pitch and the left flank. Gustavo swung a body-height cross in, and Andres Perea surprised everyone in Harrison by dipping down, then upward to lob the ball over Carlos Coronel in goal and into the far side-netting.
The City section stood up more in shock than in celebration, as Coronel stood there with his hands in the air, unsure what had just happened.
The Red Bulls needed to put points on the board tonight in order to keep their playoff chances in their own hands. However, the loss tonight, combined with Chicago Fire’s 2-0 against Columbus Crew, has put the Red Bulls on the brink of elimination. On Tuesday, if the Fire manage to take three points away from their tie with Inter Miami, the Red Bulls will be out of the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
However, Emil Forsberg’s second equalizer at the start of the second half got the Red Bulls exactly where they wanted and brought NYCFC back to square one. A lesser team might have faltered coming against the 25,219 screaming Red Bull fans calling for blood, but not Haak and his backline.
“Especially in this environment, it’s easy to lose your head,” Haak said. “But throughout this, these last few games, we’ve been doing a good job — apart from the Miami game — of keeping our composure and knowing that we have the quality to get back on top in the game.”
