The first Hudson River Derby of 2025 belonged to New York City FC. Their big 2-0 rivalry win over the Red Bulls provided plenty of narratives for our latest episode, which includes plenty of talk about the rivalry game at Citi Field in front of a lively crowd of 30,804 fans.

First, your hosts John Baney and Mark Radigan, plus their producer Andrew Leigh, discuss the importance of the Hudson River Derby win given the context of New York City FC's recent struggles without any goals scored in hundreds of minutes played, and given the fact that the Red Bulls knocked New York City out of the playoffs at this same stadium some months ago.

Then we're into analyzing the nuts and bolts of what was NYCFC's best performance of the season, the first game they've won all season by more than one goal, and the first time they've managed to score more than one goal since way back on March 29, a streak of eight matches. We spend time talking about that incredible early Alonso Martínez goal, strong recent play from New York City's defensive backline while anchored by Thiago Martins and Justin Haak, and what this overall showing in the highest-pressure game of the season to date tells us about the 2025 edition of New York City FC.

The Hudson River Derby sufficiently covered, we briefly discuss the news that James Sands is staying with FC St. Pauli in Germany's Bundesliga through the end of their upcoming 2025-2026 season. Among us, there's a unanimous approval for his continued stay in Germany, mixed with some concern about the severity of the ankle and leg injury that's sidelined Sands since February.

Then our attentions turn to the next NYCFC opponent, Chicago Fire FC, who enter Sunday's afternoon matinee at Yankee Soccer Stadium riding a streak of four consecutive wins across all competitions. Our preview of the Fire game also leads us into a discussion about new New York City signing Aiden O'Neill, with John particularly impressed by what the Australian midfielder has shown in his early games in MLS.

It's a loaded episode. Listen to the full show then find more of our coverage by following Hudson River Blue on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads, and by reading all our work at HudsonRiverBlue.com. 

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