Rapid Red Bulls Cruise To 4-1 Win Over Sluggish Revs

Rapid Red Bulls Cruise To 4-1 Win Over Sluggish Revs

It had been 7 days since the last New York Red Bull game. While that should have been a given, the team had spent a grueling 2 weeks playing games on average every 3 days. It was a stretch that saw them play 6 and win 4. Two league wins against Real Salt Lake and NYCFC, and two U.S. Open Cup victories against Atlanta Silverbacks and New York Cosmos. While the back to back wins against the local “rivals” were morale boosting, the loss to Columbus last week was a reminder that there is still work to do. The chance to play the Revolution and get back on the winning track was almost poetic. The Revs were the first team to beat NY in MLS play, and started a rough stretch which eventually saw them lose 4 straight. With Chris Duvall out to injury, and Kemar Lawrence/Roy Miller out to international duty, Connor Lade and Anthony Wallace stepped in to man the wingbacks. The Red Bulls took the field down a coach thanks to the suspension to Jesse Marsch as he was ejected at the end of the loss in Columbus.

New England looked like they were late to the party. The Red Bulls struck early and often and jumped out to a 3-0 lead after just 12 minutes thanks to return to the score sheet for Lloyd Sam bookended by  Bradley Wright-Phillips brace. The Revs looked completely shell shocked after the first goal, a trademark end line cross from Sam nodded home by Wright-Phillips from the top of the six yard box. The irony is that through the first 5 minutes, the Revs pressed and put the Red Bulls under pressure. The goal came on just the second Red Bulls attack. The quick start was by no means an accident. Dennis Hamlett was certainly pleased earning his first win as a head coach since 2009, and spoke to the quick start. “It’s a credit to the guys. Our message to them, from Jesse, and all this week is, we want to make sure at home, we are in attack mode. We want to take the game to the team… Once they get going, they just need to finish the chances.”

Finishing their chances in the first 12 minutes may have won them the game, but the second half saw a much sloppier team.  The Red Bulls had numerous chances to pull further ahead, eventually settling for a deflected goal from Anthony Wallace that has since been credited as an own goal. They also had a few chances missed by second half sub Anatole Abang. Sal Zizzo earned a penalty late in the second half that saw Jose Goncalves sent off, but his attempt was saved, as was his follow up. The Revs did find some purchase in the score line when they pulled one back in the first half. Lee Nguyen managed to go streaking into the box and his deflected shot fell to the feet of Andy Dorman who slotted the ball home to the right of Luis Robles. The goal was initially ruled offside. The lineman saw Scott Caldwell take a swing at the ball but whiffed. Dorman, who was in an onside position made contact and thus the goal did stand. It was a bizarre sequence, but one that you don’t usually see called right, so credit to the Alan Kelly on making the right call.

The win vaults the Red Bulls into second place in the east behind rivals DC United. It also means the Red Bulls have won three of their last four after losing four straight in June. The stretch ahead will continue to be a challenge for New York as it will have to go it without Lawrence while Jamaica performs in the Gold Cup, but Wallace played a solid game. Some of the credit MLS/USL partnership that saw the creation of NYRBII. Reserve players finally have a chance to get meaningful minutes on a regular basis. Hamlett agreed with that sentiment, ”He’s a guy who has been around and been patient. His moment hasn’t really come up that much. He’s taken advantage of taking the stuff he’s trained with the first team and going down to the Red Bulls II and applied it. And so we felt like, when his moment came, he would be ready for that.”

Scoring Summary

4′ Wright-Phillips(Sam)

9′ Sam (Grella)

12′ Wright-Phillips (McCarty, Kljestan)

37′ Dorman (Nguyen)

56′ Wallace (McCarty)

Game Stats