The New York Red Bulls saw Tom Barlow score and Luquinhas net a brace as they rolled to a 3-0 victory over Toronto FC at Red Bull Arena on Saturday night.
Barlow scored just before halftime, as Elias Manoel pressured Toronto's defense to cause a turnover. Elias turned and crossed to Barlow, who was right where he needed to be for the tap in.
"Tom has been a part of this club now for five seasons and he gives every single ounce that he has, and when he's able to score goals like that tonight in important moments, it’s very satisfying," Head Coach Troy Lesesne said. "Not only for our group but for Tom and his family, and I'm happy to see that."
After the break, Luquinhas got RBNY running again, taking a pass from Elias, running into the opposition's final third and finishing into the back of the net. Less than 20 minutes later, Luquinhas again put one into the back of the net, after a slicing through ball from Kyle Duncan found him at the back post.
Elias assisted on all three goals for RBNY.
The Brazilian forward became the 11th player in club history to record three assists in a single match, and the second player this season to do so, after Frankie Amaya earlier this year.
"We know that the job isn’t done yet," Daniel Edelman said. "We did what we had to do tonight, we finished the job. Now we have to take two weeks off and really focus on Nashville. We have to go there and get a result, that’s honestly our focus right now. We’re not satisfied, we know we’re not done yet."
Carlos Coronel appeared in his 100th career match in MLS for the Red Bulls. Coronel recorded his 38th career win for the club, which nows move him into sole possession of third place in franchise history passing Tim Howard. The Paraguayan goalkeeper has now recorded eight MLS clean sheets this season and 30 career MLS shutouts.
"The intensity, it’s the way that we train so we could apply it in the game, and then the first goal came, then the second, and the third," Coronel said. "We were efficient tonight, this is something that this season we lacked, but today it happened. The next game, it needs to happen again for us to continue to the dream of the playoffs."
Coronel ranks second in franchise history with 29 clean sheets for the Red Bulls. Coronel has posted a 5-0-2 mark against Toronto FC in his career and has recorded four career clean sheets against the club.
"I'd really like to thank our supporters," Lesesne said following the match. "You know, tonight was our last regular season home match. And we want to recognize them and all the support that they've given us this year, through again, maybe the most difficult season in Red Bulls history in the last 10-12 years. But I also want to say that hopefully we're going to provide another home match for them ,and that could look like us potentially hosting a play-in match. It could look like if we progress in the first round, it's a home and away fixture. So, our goal is that we're not done yet. We want to provide another home match."
Following Saturday’s victory, the FIFA international break will run from Monday, October 9 to Thursday, October 19. After the break, New York will play in their last match of the regular season, heading to GEODIS Park to face off against Nashville SC on Saturday, October 21.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. ET with coverage on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and New York Red Bulls Radio in English via TuneIn, NewYorkRedBulls.com, and the New York Red Bulls app.
"We’re going to a tough place in Nashville, but we’re up for it," Barlow said. "I think we’ve shown obviously it’s been a crazy year, but we’ve shown we can compete with any team in this league. When we’re doing our job, we’re together, and the pressure is good, we can beat anybody, so that’s our mentality. We’ll get ready these next couple of weeks for that big game. They have to be ready too. Cheer us on and we’ll get the three points."
