Red Bulls get goals from youngsters Frankie Amaya, Caden Clark to beat Toronto FC

The Red Bulls’ youth movement under Gerhard Struber is off and running, something clearer than ever Saturday with former coach Chris Armas back at Red Bull Arena for the first time since his firing last summer.

A pair of Red Bulls added to the MLS roster since the Brentwood native’s departure scored both goals in RBNY’s 2-0 victory over Armas’ Toronto FC. 20-year-old Frankie Amaya, acquired in a trade with FC Cincinnati last month, scored his first Red Bulls goal in the 32nd minute, while 17-year-old Caden Clark sealed the game in the 69th with his third goal of the season.

"I think especially in the second half, the performance, it makes me very happy," Struber said. "Especially transition moments, and also our counter-pressing, also the organization in the last line, showed me that we are very good in our progress."

The Red Bulls (2-0-2, 6 points) under Struber are designed to play with energy and press high. On their first goal of the day, after a bit of a slow start against a Toronto low block, they did just that. Clark pressured Marco Delgado as Toronto attempted to pass out of the back, easily stealing the ball and carrying toward the penalty area. The teenager found Fábio in the center, and the Brazilian poked it out to Amaya at the top of the box. The former No. 1 overall MLS draft pick hit it first time with his right foot, sending it into the bottom left corner for his first club goal in just his second match.

"I think we have a very young team, a young group of guys willing to work hard for each other," Amaya said. "We’re connecting really well, and it's only our second game together. I feel like we can make a good bond here as a game go by and we build more chemistry and more connection with each other."

Clark’s goal was another example of the club’s ability to create and capitalize on chaos. After a nice run in midfield, Dru Yearwood delivered a pass to Fábio near the penalty spot. Toronto keeper Alex Bono came out to disrupt Fábio’s play, but Clark was in full sprint to help, running on to the loose ball and finishing into an open net.

Four matches into his first full season with Struber and the Red Bulls, Clark seems to have taken to his new coach.

"Struber’s been great with his energy, he fires us up every day in training, before a game," Clark said. "He really brings this group together and it gets you going, so I think that just really helped me before this game."

After a pair of losses to open the 2021 MLS season, the Red Bulls have risen out of the Eastern Conference cellar with two consecutive wins at home and now sit in third place. A pair of road tests loom for RBNY, first at last year’s Supporters Shield winners Philadelphia Union next Saturday, then against first-place New England Revolution a week later.

"We know that the Union is an absolutely outstanding peak team in the MLS, but of course, I think the last games give every single player a very, very good feeling," Struber said. "I think the whole roster goes very straight, together with a big willingness in the games and I think this is what we need, and I think wins and good performances give everyone the right self-confidence. This is what we need on the pitch.

"Results help. Help to believe in our process, in our way, and we have the chance next week to show one more time a good performance against a big, absolutely massive opponent in the league."