Exhilarating. Epic. Classic. Emotionally draining. These are just some of the words thrown around to describe the New York Red Bulls 4-3 win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday in Harrison, NJ at Red Bull Arena. What it means to players and fans, however, is three big points gained for NY and dropped for RSL. The Red Bulls improved to 10-7-5 on the season, now only two points behind RSL for top of the league and one point behind SKC in the East.
The vibe heading into Red Bull Arena on Saturday was a cautiously optimistic one. RSL was without a slew of first teamers but they did get Alvaro Saborio back from Gold Cup duty and the backups in RSL know Jason Kreis’ formulas. Still, NY is a different team at home and after falling flat on their face in Toronto, fans expected the Red Bulls to take it to the depleted league leaders.
RSL set the tone of the match early with Yordany Alvarez’s potential leg breaking tackle on Tim Cahill. RSL fouled often and early. One foul would bite RSL early in the match as Thierry Henry’s free kick found a free Tim Cahill at the back post. Cahill did his normal thing and hit a diving header through the legs of RSL’s Jeff Attinella. The Red Bulls would double their lead on the first of three penalty kicks in the match for a soft foul against Brandon Barklage at the top of the box. It would be former RSL forward Fabian Espindola with the cheeky chip down the middle, which doubled NY’s lead. NY dominated most of the rest of the first half and they only did not lead due to the post and Jeff Attinella denying Henry and Espindola. RSL would bring one back at the death of the first half after Markus Holgersson was whistled for a foul on Olmes Garcia in the box. It was another soft call by referee Silviu Petrescu but RSL was only trailing by a goal heading into the locker rooms. Something that might have been lost through the broadcast before Saborio took the penalty was Jamison Olave signaling behind Saborio’s back to Robles which way Sabo, would shoot. Olave was correct in saying that Sabo would go to the right of Robles. Robles however dove to the left. The keeper who made two penalty saves against the likes of Chris Wondolowski (even if it was retaken) and Federico Higuain has been poor of late.
The second half was filled with more ugly challenges and yellow cards to players on both sides but nothing of consequence happened until the 80th minute when Saborio would level RSL with a shot that should have honestly been saved by Robles. NY was under pressure and falling flat on their face and then two minutes later, Saborio would complete his hat trick with a toe poke that had no chance of being saved by Robles. At this point in the match, Jason Kreis had used all three of his subs (Khari Stephenson 61, Luis Gil 10, Joao Plata 77) while Mike Petke had stuck with his starters. Petke would sub in a trio of NY players who would make little difference in the short amount of time they had to play (Lloyd Sam 85, Peguy Luyindula 87, Marius Obekop 89). Before Obekop came on in the 89th minute, Fabian Espindola would level the match after drawing the third and final weak penalty call for Petrescu. Espindola nutmegged Aaron Maund, and was barely brought down by the rookie form behind. No matter, as Espindola went to Attinella’s right and put the penalty out of reach of the keeper. Red Bull Arena was silent for all of 7 minutes before Espindola’s penalty was sunk. After the penalty score, the arena was rocking as a win turned loss turned draw seemed to be the outcome of the match. However, NY had different a different outcome in mind and went for the win. Dax McCarty would win a ball inside RSL’s half and play it outwide, casually, to Brandon Barklage. Barklage would play it down to Lloyd Sam, who did the opposite of why the Red Bulls brought him in, and would play the ball back to Barklage near the touchline. Barklage hit a one time cross that found the diving head of Dax McCarty, who buried the ball past a diving Jeff Attinella. Mass hysteria erupted around the stands and according to Dax McCarty after the match, “It was the loudest Red Bull Arena has ever been”.
This match was one of pure emotionally drainage for fans and players on both sides. I know I woke up Sunday morning with no voice from the amount I was screaming in the last 15 minutes of play. It’s the type of win that can easily define a season for a team and possibly give them a push heading into playoff positioning and, heaven forbid, Supporter Shield standings. As for the stats, it was a wild one. 46 fouls were committed (28 for RSL and 18 for NY). NY had 14 shots with eight on goal while RSL had 13 shots with six on frame. Seven yellow cards were given out, four to NY’s Cahill, Olave, Steele, and McCarty. Three went RSL’s way to Alvarez, Garcia, and Maund. RSL edged NY in possession 51.7% to 48.3% while RSL completed 83% of their passes to NY’s 80%. Both teams now head on the road for top of their conference clashes. RSL travel to rivals Colorado Rapids on August 3rd. RSL leads the Rapids by 3 points in the standings but RSL has played one less match than the Rapids. The Red Bulls travel to Sporting Park, site of the 2013 MLS All-Star game Wednesday night. SKC are coming off a late loss to the Impact in Montreal and only lead NY by a point at the top of the east.
2013 MLS All-Star notes
The Red Bulls had two players heading to KC to face AS Roma in this year’s All-Star game. Thierry Henry was picked in the fan voting and Peter Vermes has confirmed Henry will not only start, but also captain the MLS side. Aussie international Tim Cahill was added as a commissioner pick but withdrew from the match on Sunday as he recovers from that nasty tackle by Yordany Alvarez. Cahill tweeted out a picture of himself Sunday night on a table with a compression machine attached to his right knee with this quote:
“This has been my day and night today and hopefully only just for the rest of the week. Putting the body back together. @mls @newyorkredbulls #Allstars #RBNY”
Head coach Mike Petke revealed to reporters through a conference call on Tuesday that Cahill tore his PCL in his right knee and will be out “3-4” weeks. Those matches are all huge for NY as they are away to Sporting KC, away to Columbus, home to Philadelphia, and away to Chivas. Cahill has been a consistent presence in the midfield this season for NY and not only does he get on the end of crosses and break up plays in the midfield, but he is consistently heading out free kicks and corners from NY’s 18 yard box. At that length this late in the season, Cahill being out could spell the end of NY’s Shield hopes and seriously dampen the their playoff positioning.
(image courtesy of Jim O'Connor/USA Today Sports)
