The sight of Kaku raking a first-time ball to an onrushing Florian Valot to open the scoring on Saturday had to have been a cathartic sight to any New York Red Bulls fan pining for a return to the nearly-unconscious brilliance of the 2018 campaign. But while it was this echo of past glory that put RBNY over the top in their 1-0 win over Atlanta, much of the game illustrated what is new about a setup in Harrison that appears to building a future again.
It was a dream rollout for a reconfigured Red Bulls backline featuring Jason Pendant (signed days prior to the covid-19 suspension) making an efficient debut on the left side and Kyle Duncan continuing his torrid late 2019 form on the right.