The New York Red Bulls U-23s topped Reading United AC 1-0 Wednesday night at the Red Bulls Training Facility.
In a matchup that featured numerous top players, the Red Bulls came out strong applying a lot of pressure to the Reading backline.
The lone goal of the game was scored by Christopher Lema in the 18th minute after a long surging ball from Midfielder Arun Basuljevic. New York held strong possession in the Reading half and Basuljevic played a ball out to Lema on the right flank. Lema cut inside creating space from the defender and then hit a curling ball with his left foot into the top corner.
The chances for New York would not stop there, as leading goal scorer, Sevag Kherlopian was played in at the top of the box and would be denied by the crossbar. The forward also met a Basuljevic corner kick, only to be met by the diving Reading goalkeeper, Ben Beaury.
Second half substitute, Alex Tejera almost doubled the Red Bulls’ lead as he was taken down inside the box. Tejera stepped up and took a low shot to his left but was stopped by Beaury. Beaury finished with six saves for Reading.
Red Bulls U-23 goalkeeper Eric Klenofsky recorded his second clean sheet of the season after recording three saves in the win. Along with his three big saves, Klenofsky’s distribution was key as he sparked numerous dangerous counter attacks for the Red Bulls.
The Red Bulls U-23s return to action the weekend of June 24-25 where they travel south to face the Baltimore Bohemians on Saturday and then Evergreen FC the new day.
Goal Summary (Assists in parenthesis):
- NY: Lema (Basuljevic) 18’
Discipline Summary:
- Reading: Kevin Carvalho 62’
- Reading: Brett Campbell 77’
- NY: Anderson Asiedu 78’
Lineups:
NY: Erik Klenofsky, Anderson Asiedu, Henry Martin, Kevin Politz, Marcelo Borges, Steven Echevarria, Arun Basuljevic (Thibault Philippe, 80’), Christopher Lema (Kyle Zajec, 75’), Thomas De Villardi (Christopher Flores, 56’), Juan Sanchez (Nicholas Melo, 59’), Sevag Kherlopian (Alex Tejera, 71’)
Reading United AC: Ben Beaury, Ackim Mpofu, Billy McConnell, Will Campbell, Charlie Reymann, Kevin Carvalho (Hugo Delhommelle, 62’), Martin Nygaard (Will Picoux, 46’), Zachn Zandi, Jelani Peters, Paul Marie (Khori Bennett, 33’), Brett Campbell
