HARRISON – The New York Red Bulls welcomed Jonathan Lewis and the Colorado Rapids to Red Bull Arena Saturday night. The Rapids come off a 2-2 draw in Houston, while RBNY lost 2-1 in the latest installment of the Hudson River Derby.
Jonathan Lewis Brace Downs Red Bulls New York 2-0
Familiar Faces and a Home Debut
Southampton loan Josh Sims made his home debut at Red Bull Arena with a spot in the starting XI. He went for over sixty minutes. Striker Bradley Wright-Phillips made his first start at home. On the other end of the pitch, former Red Bull and USMNT goalkeeper Tim Howard made his first appearance for the Rapids against his former team.
Red Bulls Chasing Game
On Military Appreciation Night, the Red Bulls pushed from the opening whistle. In the 11th minute, midfielder Daniel Royer’s strike went wide. Moments later, Rapids midfielder Jonathan Lewis took the ball the length of the field, scoring the first goal of the match (14′). RBNY continued undaunted. Strikes from Royer, Wright-Phillips, and Tim Parker all landed wide of the goal. The first half was physical throughout. Bookings for Colorado’s Jack Price (13′) and New York’s Kemar Lawrence (42′) punctuated a number of fouls on both sides. But the Red Bulls went to the locker room at the half trailing by a goal, despite 12 total shots in the first half.
Clamoring for an Equalizer
While the Red Bulls maintained their high press going into the second half, their chances yielded nothing. Manager Chris Armas brought in Omir Fernandez and Cristian Casseres, Jr. as fresh legs in the attack. In an effort to protect Lawrence and shore up the defense, Michael Amir Murillo came in at the 70th minute. Colorado made a number of runs on goal, making a difficult task for the goalkeeper Robles. in the 85th minute, a tussle in the box following a New York corner kick ended with Parker’s shot going wide of the far post. But Lewis doubled the Rapids’ lead with moments left in the match. Pushing to the final whistle, the Red Bulls tried to pull one back. But the game ended in a home loss for the Red Bulls.
The Red Bulls participate in the International break before playing the Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field on September 15.
