New York Red Bulls Down NYCFC: Three Things I Noticed
The New York derby held great importance on a scorching summer day in mid July. New York City FC was top of the Eastern table and had been a lock on the road for much of the season. The New York Red Bulls were still struggling to find consistency since their supporter’s shield winning season in 2015. While player acquisitions waited in the wings, the current crop had some additional growing pains.
A six-point swing for the Red Bulls could make a big difference heading into the final stretch. The day grows late, and the bleeding must stop for the red team. Alex Muyl once again received the starting nod ahead of designated player Gonzalo Veron, and Jesse Marsch would answer for the result based heavily on how the right winger performed. Muyl had arguably his best game as a Red Bull. Here’s what I noticed.
Quick Start
It was critical that the Red Bulls get after the game early. After all, their high pressing style is the bane of all things NYCFC. Though, it comes with the price of tiring early. Against a potent offense such as City, that could be doom. With their current road form in shambles, every point is at a premium for the 2016 New York Red Bulls. They had three shots in the opening 15 minutes compared to City’s single shot. The Red Bulls would score on their next two attempts on goal. Given the nature of NYC’s game plan against the Red Bulls, and the heat, those two goals looked like a mountain to climb for NYC.
Sacha Kljestan would add a third just before halftime that would ultimately seal the game. While NYC managed to pull a goal back seconds after going down 3-0, they never found another good opportunity. Kljestan played a hand in all three of the Red Bulls first half goals, and five straight goals to that point. Kljestan’s form had dipped in recent weeks, so his 3 goals, 2 assist performance in the last 180 minutes for the club is a welcome sight.
War of Attrition
NYC came out with a game plan of bunker and counter, and it backfired to a large degree. David Villa had the first dangerous chance of the game, but only managed a single other shot for the rest of the game. In total, NYCFC was caught offside eight times. Head coach Patrick Viera attributed the offside calls as both unfair and influenced by a midweek rant by Jesse Marsch. Marsch was critical of the officials and their treatment of star players, but offside calls don’t fall to the referee.
All in all, NYC was exposed for failing to adjust their game plan after the early goals conceded. They ceded the majority of possession through out the match, which forced thems into chasing the game while down two goals. Credit must be paid to Jesse Marsch’s side for showing the tactical brilliance of seeing a game out on their terms. “…I think that it was a well-executed game for 90 minutes, which we’ve still — at home we’ve been able to do that a lot better than on the road. Now can we take this kind of mentality and approach and make sure that on the road we can manage it the same way?” Said Marsch after the game.
Taking Harrison Out Of Harrison
Getting back to Alex Muyl, as Matt Doyle pointed out, Muyl locked down the wing in the first half. For the game total, he had nearly double (13) of the next best winger, Jack Harrison (7). As Muyl was charged with keeping Harrison in check for a large portion of the game, he did his job and then some. Harrison who has been arguably NYC’s best player during the summer months was largely absent from the game. Harrison had no shots through 90 minutes, and completed just two passes in the final 3rd. Uh-oh spaghettios.
Harrison was also phased out of the game by the stellar play of Connor Lade, who once again showed he is a force to be reckoned with. Lade had 12 defensive actions on the day, and got into the attack effectively. Their counterparts were pinned back by stellar play moving forward and on the otherside of the ball. Take a look at the two charts. The first is Lade/Muyl, the second Harrison/White.
Final Word
Jesse Marsch and company have once again proven that RBA is absolutely a fortress. While they were unable to hold a clean sheet, they are unbeaten in Harrison since April 9th. That is extremely important moving forward. The Red Bulls have 6 home games remaining, all against Eastern opposition. The Red Bulls have 2.5ppg against teams from the East at home. That should be good enough to see them earn an additional 15 points for the rest of the season, or a total of about 46 points. If they can improve on the road, finishing in a top two position is not out of the question.
Scoring Summary:
1-0 NYRB – Bradley Wright-Phillips 10 (Sacha Kljestan, Felipe) 20′
2-0 NYRB – Ronald Zubar 2 (Sacha Kljestan) 23′
3-0 NYRB – Sacha Kljestan 5 (PK) 41′
3- 1 NYCFC – Thomas McNamara 4 (RJ Allen, Andrea Pirlo) 43′
4-1 NYRB – Bradley Wright-Phillips 11 (unassisted) 70′
Misconduct Summary:
NYC – Ethan White (caution, foul) 13′
NY – Ronald Zubar (caution, dissent) 55′
NY – Mike Grella (caution, unsporting behavior) 58′
NYC – R.J. Allen (caution, unsporting behavior) 65′
NYC – Frank Lampard (caution, unsporting behavior) 86′
NYC – Federico Bravo (caution, unsporting behavior) 88′
NYC – Ethan White (ejection, second yellow, unsporting behavior) 89′
NYC – David Villa (caution, not retreating) 90′
Lineups
New York Red Bulls: Luis Robles; Connor Lade, Ronald Zubar, Aurelien Collin, Sal Zizzo, Dax McCarty © (Shaun Wright-Phillips, 90’+2), Alex Muyl, Sacha Kljestan, Mike Grella (Gonzalo Veron, 72′), Bradley Wright-Phillips (Sean Davis, 84′)
TOTAL SHOTS: 12; SHOTS ON GOAL: 8; FOULS: 10; OFFSIDE: 2; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES: 0.
New York City FC: Josh Saunders; Ethan White, Frederic Brillant, RJ Allen (Jason Hernandez, 80′), Jefferson Mena, Andrea Pirlo (Federico Bravo, 87′), Frank Lampard, Andoni Iraola (Tony Taylor, 69′), David Villa ©, Thomas McNamara, Jack Harrison
TOTAL SHOTS: 5; SHOTS ON GOAL: 1; FOULS: 13; OFFSIDE: 6; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 3.
Referee: Mark Geiger
Referee’s Assistants: C.J. Morgante, Adam Wienckowski
4th Official: Jose Carlos Rivas
Attendance: 25,219 (sellout)
Main Photo By Bill Twomey Photography
