It was a mere 25 days ago that the east leading Sporting KC hosted the New York Red Bulls for a top of the table clash. Fast-forward to tonight and first place in the east is once again on the line in Harrison, NJ even though the Red Bulls are in third place. Sporting KC comes in as road warriors, one of the best teams in MLS this season away from their home grounds to Red Bull Arena, where New York is undefeated (10-0-3).
Sporting KC is coming off a 1-1 draw at home against the Houston Dynamo that saw CJ Sapong get a last minute equalizer to rescues the point. New York won over Columbus 3-1, after falling down a goal within the first three minutes of play. Thierry Henry won Man of the Match honors with his 2 goal, 1 assist performance and his possible goal of the year candidate in his olympico in the dying minutes of the game.
When these two sides first played back on August 26th, New York escaped with a 1-1 draw without putting any shots on frame. New York only produced two shots and had no corner kicks with Kei Kamara being the lone goal scorer. Hans Backe lines his side up in a very defensive shell, with five players in the midfield and only Kenny Cooper up top. It was also the first time that New York lined up with its back four of Lade, Holgersson, Pearce, and Conde. It turned out to be one of the best performances by a New York backline on the road this season and coach Hans Backe has since been vindicated with Wilman Conde in the left back role.
There are many keys to this eastern conference clash starting with New York’s personnel. Captain Thierry Henry missed the first match to stay in New York due to the birth of his first son. Since then, Henry has been working harder than ever, day in and out, to regain his early season form he carried with him from his loan to Arsenal. While New York has been prolific on offense the past few months without him on the score sheet, it does come as a relief to have the Frenchmen putting the ball past keepers once again.
Another key to the matchup is the x-factor, Rafa Marquez. While I refused to call Marquez NY’s x-factor to start the season, the Red Bull have not lost a game in which Marquez has played, all 10 of them. Rafa has had another terrible year but mainly do to the elongated time he has missed with injuries and suspensions. Rafa returned to the starting XI and almost immediately made a positive impact for NY has he served up the ball that leveled the match early against the Crew. Thierry Henry, who was the hero of the match, refused to take credit and placed the mantle on Marquez’s head after the match. Henry, who has been known to drop back into the midfield on a consistent basis, was able to stay up on the Crew backline and stretch them, with credit to Marquez facilitating from the defensive portion of midfield. Rafa also made a lot of positive runs for NY into the attack and did well on numerous occasions to put his body on the line to maintain possession. What remains to be seen is if Rafa can be this positive and influential for consecutive matches. Marquez’s MO has been, return to the team, win a match, and then mess up with his lazy play or onfield antics.
In the words of US legend Alexi Lalas, “set pieces, set pieces, set pieces”. While NY has not given up a ton of goals off of set pieces, as they did in 2011, they do give up enough opportunities off of them. On the flip side, SKC is one of the most dangerous teams in MLS on set pieces and Aurelin Collin or Kei Kamara can create a ton of chances from set pieces but they don’t finish them. Enter Tim Cahill, who for a 15-minute stretch against the Crew in the second half had countless clearances and stops off of the Crew corners.
If Sporting cannot score off of set pieces, where do the goals come from? The answer is simple and it is down the right hand side for SKC, with Zusi and Chance Meyers. If Wilman Conde once again holds down the left back role, he will have to deal with Meyers pushing very high up into the attack for Sporting KC. Whoever plays ahead of Conde, whether it be Lindpere or Solli, will have to do a bit more defensive work at home than they are used to. SKC is very good at holding onto the ball for stretches and it will be something NY will need to learn to deal with.
With the Chicago Fire sitting on 50 points in-between SKC (51) and NY (49), neither team playing tonight will be playing for a draw. Expect tonight’s match to be just as physical as their first enouncter back in August.
(Image courtesy of New York Red Bulls)
