United rally past Red Bulls, win 2-1

READING, PA (June 1, 2018) – Reading United defeated the New York Red Bulls U23, 2-1, at Wilson High School’s Gurski Stadium on Saturday evening to remain undefeated in Premier Development League play this season. The hosts used a scintillating second half performance led by goals from Daniel Krutzen and Felipe Hideki to rally past the Red Bulls to earn their fourth victory of the season and vault into a tie with New York for the top spot in the Mid-Atlantic Division.

In a back and forth first half, Reading United found themselves trailing in the 26th minute as Red Bulls midfielder Emmanuel Kouma won a challenge by United midfielder Alex Lipinski and sent a curling effort past Reading goalkeeper Ben Lundt to stake the visitors to a 1-0 lead.

Trailing for the first time in league play, United pressed New York but their search for an equalizer before the halftime break came up empty.

United came out off halftime energized and immediately put the Red Bulls on their heels.

Reading’s breakthrough would come in the 51st minute. As the Red Bulls struggled to deal with United’s attack, Aaron Molloy played a ball out to the left flank for Daniel Krutzen. The left back had time and space and unleashed a low drive that skipped past New York goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu and into the side netting for the equalizer.

The goal lifted Reading’s energy level and the hosts continued to maintain possession and press the Red Bulls deep in their own half.

In the 58th minute, Reading defender Rob Campbell started an attack by playing a pass to midfielder Felipe Hideki. Hideki then played a quick one-two pass to forward Kieran Roberts that allowed the midfielder to break the Red Bull defense and fire his shot past Nuhu to push Reading United to a 2-1 lead.

The Reading United defense played a starring role in the closing minutes of the match as the unit looked to preserve their side’s narrow advantage. Lundt, making his first start of the season for Reading, made several clutch stops in the waning minutes of the game to seal the win.

The victory helped United pull level in the standings with the Red Bulls and the Long Island Rough Riders, with Reading holding games in-hand over their New York area rivals.

Reading United Head Coach Alan McCann was happy with his squad’s victory, stating, “I know we went into halftime 1-0 down but we were the better of the two sides. You’ve got to encourage them at halftime and we spoke, and it was very positive at halftime. So, in the second half you saw the response, and that response was a professional response.”

After a two match road trip which sees United face F.A. Euro and the Long Island Rough Riders, Reading United will return to action at Wilson’s High School’s Gurski Stadium for a Premier Development League showdown with local rivals Lehigh Valley United on Tuesday, June 12th. Kickoff for the match is scheduled for 7:00pm and tickets are available at 9h9.f8e.myftpupload.com/tickets.