Michael Bradley has hailed the impact of New York Red Bulls teenager Julian Hall after another impressive display in their win over Pittsburgh in the U.S. Open Cup.

The Red Bulls won 3-1 at Sports Illustrated Stadium in midweek, with Hall netting a brace after Emil Forsberg opened the scoring.

Eighteen-year-old Hall has also scored five goals and provided two assists across seven MLS games this season, with only Guilherme (nine), Petar Musa, Rafael Navarro and Sebastien Berhalter (all eight) directly contributing to more goals in 2026.

Both of Hall’s assists in the league this season came in their 2-2 draw with Inter Miami last time out, a result that left the Red Bulls seventh in the Eastern Conference.

NYRB face CF Montreal next in MLS, and Bradley has set the stage for another key performance from Hall.

“He’s been a really, really important player for us,” Bradley said about Hall.

“Many of you guys have heard me say it: it’s not just the goals, his ability to lead our press, to set the tone for everybody in terms of how aggressive we can be to step up and go after the other team.

“The chasing and the strength that he has can make the game really, really difficult for the other team; He chases midfielders from behind. Those things go unnoticed.”

We had fun last night. #RBNY | @Audi pic.twitter.com/RR784HMErg

— Red Bull New York (@NewYorkRedBulls) April 16, 2026

Montreal are bottom of the East, with just one win from their opening seven games in 2026 (L6).

Their poor start to the campaign led to the sacking of head coach Marco Donadel, with Philippe Eullaffroy taking charge of the team until a permanent replacement is hired.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

CF Montreal – Ivan Jaime

Jaime scored in a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Union last time out, becoming the third player to score a goal for Montreal this season (also Wiki Carmona and Prince Owusu).

Only D.C. United (two) have had fewer players score a goal in the 2026 regular season, among all MLS teams.

New York Red Bulls – Julian Hall

Hall provided two assists against Miami last weekend, becoming the youngest player in club history to record a multi-assist game (18 years, 18 days).

The only other teenagers in team history to have multiple assists in an MLS match are Tyler Adams and current head coach Bradley.

MATCH PREDICTION – NEW YORK RED BULLS

Montreal have lost four straight games, their first four-game losing streak across all competitions since May 2024.

They have not had a longer losing streak in competitive matches since a seven-match streak spanning 2017 and 2018.

The Red Bulls have just one loss (W3 D2) in their last six matches against Montreal. However, it came earlier this season, on March 8 in New Jersey.

Montreal won that game 3-0, which was tied for the club’s largest-ever margin of victory in the fixture.

Six of New York’s 11 goals this season have come from teenagers (Hall – five, Adri Mehmeti – one). The only other MLS teams with multiple goals by teenagers this season are Real Salt Lake (four), the New England Revolution (two) and San Diego FC (two).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

CF Montreal – 31.2%

Draw – 25.1%

New York Red Bulls – 43.7%