Kansas City, Kansas (April 14, 2019) — The New York Red Bulls traveled to Children’s Mercy Park to face Sporting Kansas City. Still recovering from a 10-2 aggregate loss against Monterrey, Sporting needed to refocus their efforts on league play.
Meanwhile, the Red Bulls needed to stop a three-game slide to reinvigorate their season. They ended up sharing points on the day.
Missing Pieces
Midfielder Alex Muyl, still recovering from an ankle injury, did not dress for the match. Jamaican international Kemar Lawrence did not travel with the team due to illness. Meanwhile, Florian Valot is just now recovering from knee ligament surgery.
The challenge to roster depth has come fast and hard for the Red Bulls. Their newest signing Mathias Jørgensen was sent to play with Red Bull II, the club’s USL squad. Manager Chris Armas looked to his Homegrown and veteran players for this match.
OH BABY!!!
WHAT A GOAL BY @_BrianWhite42!
1-2 #SKCvRBNY | #RBNY pic.twitter.com/YHCwJkKR5m
— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) April 15, 2019
Sporting Strike First
The Red Bulls found the back of the net early on, but the goal was called back for offside. Video Assisted Referee was necessary to assure the correct call. Johnny Russell scored the first goal on the night in the 24th minute. He outran the defense and took a pass from Krisztian Nemeth to find the back of the net.
Red Bulls Get Ahead
Early in the second half (52′), Daniel Royer collected a pass from Cristian Casseres Jr. He sidestepped Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia to put the ball into the net at a sharp angle. Brian White, who came on for Bradley Wright-Phillips, got the go-ahead goal in the 75th minute. A header off a cross from Alejandro “Kaku” Romero Gamarra flew past Melia to give the Red Bulls the lead for the first time in the match.
New York looked to be turning things around.
Late Leveler from Busio
However, youngster Gianluca Busio collected a ball shot back into the box by Graham Zusito to bring the game level once again. That was his third goal in as many games. There were some stoppage time fireworks, resulting in a straight red for Kaku and yellow cards for Nemeth and Luis Robles.
The game ended in a draw, a hard-earned one on both sides. The Red Bulls travel to Foxboro for a match again the New England Revolution on Saturday.
https://twitter.com/kakuromero17/status/1117613465550508032
