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Real Salt Lake at New York Red Bulls: Match Night Commentary

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The New York Red Bulls are home at Giants Stadium tonight, looking to record their first win of the season against a strong Real Salt Lake team. The tilt is a rematch of last season's Western Conference final, won by New York.

The Red Bulls will welcome newcomer Alfredo Pacheco to the fold. The Salvadoran defender will make his debut for the club after a prolonged process to be loaned to the club.

I will be providing commentary of the match throughout the night. Please feel free to follow along and, as always, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action.

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FINAL– Tonight's lineup was closer to what Juan Carlos Osorio had in mind when he was putting this team together and it must be said that this group looked very good. With Albert Celades still working his way into full health, the Red Bulls still might be a dangerous team in the Eastern Conference this season.

Tonight's win was no fluke or lucky bounce, but rather a thorough performance against a solid opponent.

What did you think of tonight's match? Share your thoughts below.

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FINAL- Red Bulls 2, Real Salt Lake 0. An impressive performance on all fronts. The attack created chances, the defense limited chances and Jon Conway impressed in his first match since returning from suspension. A lot to be optimistic about now after a terrible first four matches.

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92nd minute– Rojas has had a decent game but he has to stop these turnovers in the defensive third.

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91st minute– Three minutes of stoppage time, but there's little reason to think RSL will get any closer here. Red Bulls are playing well despite being a man down.

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90th minute– Dane Ricahrds pours on the speed on a breakaway, but then hits a meek shot right to Rimando.

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89th minute– SAVE CONWAY!!!! One-handed save on a Will Johnson shot. RSL corner.

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87th minute– This is Wolyniec's first appearance of the season.

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87th minute– Borman's turnover turns into a quick RSL counter and now a RSL corner. John Wolyniec in for Dane Richards.

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83rd minute– RSL is pushing hard, but Conway and the Red Bulls are holding on to this two-goal cushion.

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81st minute– The Red Bulls defense has been solid, and it must be said that Goldthwaite and Mendes have enjoyed a stellar game tonight.

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78th minute– Andy Williams is in for Robbie Findley now.

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76th minute– The Red Bulls have withstood RSL's strong and you wonder how much Real Salt Lake has left.

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74th minute– SAVE CONWAY!!! Great stop on a Movsisyan shot.

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74th minute– Danleigh Borman will be coming into this match, probably for Khano Smith.

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72nd minute– Tonight's attendance is 8,508. Yuck.

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71st minute– Dane Richards pours on the speed on a breakaway, but then hits a meek shot right to Rimando.

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68th minute– Things could get VERY interesting now that the Red Bulls are a man down. RSL has the high-powered attack to find two goals here.

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65th minute– RED CARD!! Jeremy Hall gets a questionable red card for a late challenge on Will Johnson. Not sure how that's a red, but Ricardo Salazar must have felt it was a malicious challenge. Hall wasn't the last defender and it wasn't a tackle from behind.

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65th minute– Luis Miguel Escalada is coming in for David Horst for RSL. Escalada is making his MLS debut.

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62nd minute– Luke Sassano comes on for Juan Pablo Angel. Not a bad sub for a few reasons. First, Angel has been nursing a sore back, and secondly the Red Bulls have a Thursday game.

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59th minute– The Red Bulls attack has looked more lively all match long and on that goal we saw what Kandji and Angel can do together. Kandji is making it look easy tonight.

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57th minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!!!! Angel with the finish off a beautiful combination sequence with Mac Kandji. What a goal and what a combo Kandji and Angel are making.

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56th minute– Angel heads one just wide off a Richards corner kick.

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55th minute– Red Bulls with a corner kick here. RSL is vulnerable on these with Olave missing. Can Rojas get a good ball in?

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53rd minute– Khano Smith has gone into turnover mode here in the second half.

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52nd minute– Morales with the pass on that play. He's stepping it up and the Red Bulls better be careful.

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50th minute– SAVE GOLDTHWAITE!!!! Clears a Movsisyan shot off the line. WOW.

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49th minute– Robbie Russell with a yellow card after scything down Richards. Good free kick chance for the Red Bulls here.

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47th minute– There is Morales drawing a foul. He should be much more involved in the second half. And Kandji should know not to try back-heels in his own half of the field.

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HALFTIME– Here are the second half drinking games for this match: RSL dives, bad Khano Smith crosses and any backpasses to the goalkeeper of 10 yards or more and you drink. 

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HALFTIME – RSL should come out firing here at the start of the second half.

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HALFTIME– No changes for either team at halftime.

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HALFTIME– Red Bulls 1, Real Salt Lake 0. Much better from the Red Bulls today. They have moved the ball with purpose, and have defended well. RSL has had some possession, but has failed to create dangerous chances. I have a feeling RSL will step things up in the second half, but so might New York, which looks like it could find at least one more goal.

Pacheco's first game has gone well so far. he has gotten forward, delivered some good crosses, and drawn a few fouls in possession. He appears to be having a good impact on Khano Smith on the left flank as well.

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45th minute– Apologies for the lack of a drinking game in the first half. The action has been pretty steady so I couldn't come up with one. I'll have some for the second half.

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39th minute– Several Red Bulls have played well who came in having disappointing seasons. Richards, Rojas and Smith have looked good early on here. Maybe there's hope for this bunch afer all.

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32nd minute– RSL has moved the ball around but Javier Morales hasn't gotten enough of the ball. He's the key to RSL's chances today and he's more than capable of unlocking the Red Bulls defense with a sharp pass.

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30th minute– Hall with a great ball in to Angel, who forces a good save from Rimando. There has been some great service from the Red Bulls flanks today.

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28th minute– Mathis with a nice run through midfield. Red Bulls fans should know that Mathis has had a pretty good season for Real Salt Lake and still has some gas in the tank.

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27th minute– Apologies for the late start folks. I'm locked in now and the Red Bulls and RSL are going back and forth in a wide-open game. I don't see this one finishing 1-0.

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23rd minute– Here is RSL's starting lineup:

——–Movsisyan—-Findley———–

——————Morales—————–

Johnson—————————Mathis

—————-Beckerman—————-

Wingert—-Borchers–Horst—–Russell

——————Rimando—————–

BENCH– Reynish, Beltran, Alexandre, Cox, Grabavoy, Williams, Escalada

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21st minute– With Olave out, second-year defender David Horst is starting. He is seeing his first minutes of the season. Kandji and Angel aren't upset about that at all.

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20th minute– Real Salt Lake is without Colombian defender Jamison Olave for tonight's match. RSL is keeping Olave off the turf because his knees are apparently bad. It has nothing to do with being afraid that Juan Pablo Angel will embarrass him like he did here last season.

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18th minute– Rojas hits the frame with a 30-yard free kick. He's looked very active tonight and apparently isn't ready to give up his starting job.

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15th minute– Here is the Red Bulls starting lineup:

————Angel——–Kandji————

Smith————Rojas————richards

——————Stammler—————-

Pacheco—-Goldthwaite- Mendes—Hall

——————-Conway—————–

BENCH– Cepero, Petke, Borman, Sassano, Ubiparipovic, Oduro, Wolyniec

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13th minute– Alfredo Pacheco delivers a perfect ball that creates a great chance for Kandji. He's looking sharp so far.

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10th minute– The Red Bulls scored in the second minute courtesy of a Macoumba Kandji finish of a deflected Dane Richards cross. That was the first goal of the season for a Red Bull. Red Bulls 1, Real Salt Lake 0.

Comments

  1. Kpugs,

    I’m with you on “simulation”. It has to be removed from the game. So do tactical fouls. Think how many more goals would be scored if there weren’t shirt pulling, and other intentional fouls. Corner kicks are ridiculous with all the grabbing pushing etc.

    Reply
  2. Hincha Tim, I hear you. That is why I specifically used the word “I” in expressing my disappointment. I know my bias is there, I rarely deny it, and when I do I feel that I’m fair.

    Plus I was there, and the foul was directly in front of me, I could have pegged either player with a bottle cap. It’s what I saw, live, and I did not see a replay.

    So I don’t think what I said was ridiculous. And since I watched it happen within spitting distance, I’m confident in saying the straight red was ridiculous. Unless you think Will Johnson being deathly hurt and then immediately sprinting without a limp is perfectly okay?

    Don’t worry man…I know what you’re saying, and I know my bias. But in this particular case, me claiming it was not even bookable is a non issue. Bottom line is it was a straight red and Will Johnson, via constant video evidence, completely and totally pretended to be hurt when he was perfectly fine.

    I have friends who used to play soccer–quite a lot actually–who refuse to even watch it because of the simulation involved in the game. Such as pretending your leg just got cut off and then sprinting up and down the field 30 seconds later. I regret nothing I said.

    Reply
  3. I enjoyed watching the game greatly. I thought Pacheco was the REal thing and kept his position nicely which allowed Rojas to stay on top where he belongs. He really played better for once and really chased the balland came back on defense. Goldy played well and so did Kandji and JPA. Stammler also great game on Defense.

    Good Defense will allow our midfielders to stay on top and keep the pressure on the oppossing team.

    Pacheco gets an A!

    Now our one weak point did anyone watch Khano Smith? I watched him throughout totally disintersted and OUT OF PLACE. HE is the worst player I have ever seen. He is out of position and Never takes on anybody and cannot cross the ball and with him it is like playing with ten men. HE SUCKS and should be cut and replaced by MBTUBA or Daniel Borman. He was out of shape and has not soccer skills and that is why New England got rid of him. No hustle and just jogs around lazily.

    Go Red Bulls and hope they play like this against DC who I do not like.

    No Khano he should be cut or traded ASAP!

    Reply
  4. The atmosphere was excellent last night in the stadium despite the low turnout. The noise definitely was attributable to those clap thingies. Nonetheless, it was a good response from those who were there.

    Nice to finally get that win and score a couple goals.

    Pacheco was very impressive and will be a massive help for this team. And Goldthwaite was shockingly good. How did that happen?

    As for getting to and from games. It just gets more ridiculous. I didn’t get back to my neighborhood in Brooklyn until almost 2 hours after the match ended. And they’re now dropping off from the shuttle buses way the f*ck across the lot. I saw some poor old bastard with a cane slowly making his way back, and could find no reason why the buses can’t pick up where they used to.

    Reply
  5. Kpugs,

    To say that the Hall tackle was a questionable yellow card is ridiculous. He came in studs up, totally took out Johnson and was nowhere near the ball. That’s going to be a yellow from any ref. Watch the replay. Red Card maybe a bit harsh but not if the ref thought he was the last man.

    Reply
  6. Lou – i agree with you in that he should be playing on the left but Osorio has some fascination with Smith. Maybe he gives him a good laugh sometimes or maybe he enjoys that feeling when you feel you heart in your throat. LOL

    Reply
  7. great night, great goals, so much to look forward to. So excited to see the emerging CB pairing we have and excited to see them really developing some chemistry.

    -Lou you need 3 CB’s to play a 3-5-2. 4-4-2 and 4-5-1 are the way to go, especially with the full backs we have now because they can really get forward and make the overlapping runs. and with stammler and celades they can drop back while we are in attack and provide extra cover for our CB’s leaving 3 at the center circle to prevent against the counter.

    Reply
  8. There were only 8,000 of us there, and some of the noise came from the clapper things NYRB handed out, but there was a touch of atmosphere at the match tonight. I had to double-check and make sure I was at Giants Stadium.

    Solid back five. (Welcome back Conway; I never thought I’d miss you.) Hall is a keeper; Pacheco made a good first impression. Mac was a threat every time he had the ball. JPA woke up. Richards got some things done. Pietravallo was nowhere to be found! It was enough to make me overlook how annoying Khano and Rojas are. Well done, lads.

    @Allegre — They sure do make it hard to get to the game. It’s a bad f-ing joke. I can only imagine if/when we have a decent crowd. It will take two hours to in and out of the parking lots.

    Reply
  9. Best game I have seen RBNY play in ages. Conway, Goldthwaite, Richards, Kandji and Pacheco all get top marks. Very impressed by Pacheco’s cool head, vision and ability to control the ball on the Giants Stadium surface.

    My goat of the game: Khano Smith. He showed nothing, including any desire to be playing out there.

    Aside from the free kick. Rojas was poor. I expected him to be freed up with the return of Stammler as a stopper, but he really doesn’t create. I don’t think he’s our answer for the middle.

    Reply
  10. Trust me, Mac had those skills and that touch. Really, his stuff tonight is literally just the tip of the iceberg. He had some at Silverbacks games last year that broke my ankles, and I was just watching with my eyes from the stands.

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  11. i was at the concert at the neighboring Izod Center and the amount of cars parked at Giants Stadium looked shamefully low. Too bad the concert ended at 9, i was planning to round up everyone and walk over to the red bull game if it sucked.

    finally a win! mac is the man

    Reply
  12. They’ll all print about the small turnout on a beautiful night but I’ll bet the bylines won’t talk about the construction mess we endure getting to, leaving, and parking at Giant’s Stadium. And the fact that after the first home game traffic nightmare there was a concert in the neighboring arena tonight to boot! Let’s hear it for the fans that did come out to support the team.

    Reply
  13. Maybe it is too soon but i would like a lineup like this next week
    ——————-Mac———Angel———————
    Mbuta—————–Rojas———————Richards
    —————-Celadas——Stammler——————
    Pacheco—————Goldy——————Johnson
    ——————–Conway——————————–

    That trinagle of rojas, celadas, and stammler can be deadly they connect and stay on the same page
    We can go with a 3 man back line finally and get more men up in the attack because our back line is finally quick and young enough to be spaced out.

    Reply
  14. P.S. on the Will Johnson/Jeremy Hall thing. It was 7 feet in front of me. One of the worst calls ever.

    I could have understood a yellow card…but I would have thought even a yellow was a bit much. Terrible call, and Will Johnson is pathetic. Played dead, then literally 30 seconds later was completely fine and sprinting like crazy. We were merciless with him in the crowd.

    Reply
  15. rob hall made JCO’s job harder, the debate isn’t between which one should play left back, it is obvsious that hall should be playing in place of khano and johnson should be playing his natural left back position, becuase of this red card we will have to wait yet another week to possibly see this formation. Mac has always been an amazing dribbler he didn’t improve his touch at all, type in his name on youtube and watch the short video of him destroying usl defenders.

    Reply
  16. FINALLY. Maybe not a huge win tonight but an important win. You guys see Johnson walk briskly straight to the tunnel IMMEDIATELY after the final whistle? I had a small part in that and I love it. Scumbag.

    Crowd was sparse tonight but more supportive and noisy than I can remember seeing in years. Props to my fellow fans.

    Reply
  17. Great match! This is the team that we all had high expectations for and in their debut they showed that they can and will compete for the MLS Cup this year. Mac looked amazing, his touch on the ball has improved ten fold since last season. If he keeps this up we are going to see the second coming of Jozy Altidore complete with transfer to Europe. Angel finally broke the ice…let’s just hope that that is all he broke (fingers crossed). Defense played very well. Hall’s red card just made JCO’s job easier for one more week now that he will not have to choose between him and Johnson on Thursday. What he plans on doing when both are back from suspension we can only imagine. Pacheco had a very nice debut.

    Btw-we still have Celades to add to the mix. As I’ve been saying all along, our team has not been on the field this season until tonight. From here on out, so long as we can maintain our health, we will have the deepest team in the league.

    Forza Red Bull!

    Reply
  18. jags: He’s here on political asylum as one of the “lost boys” type of stories, and in the Atlanta area since the end of high school, some college, then the silverbacks, then ny. Due to his asylum status, he is not allowed to leave the country (why he won’t travel to tfc or puerto rico or the canadian usl teams) and has reportedly expressed an interest in playing for his native country if they ever get their act together, for lack of a better term.

    Reply
  19. yea this is the worst i’ve seen the stadium look since the rainy home opener a few years ago this was just a horrible turnout, how bout marketing the team better red bull, maybe u thought u marketed well enough but 3 home attendances of 12,000, 12,000, and 9,000 is just disgraceful.

    Reply
  20. Hopefully now that we have a win, we’ll be able to get a few more people into the stadium. Less than 9,000 is just sad especially when you think about Seattle and Toronto.

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  21. we played very well next week we have johnson back but no hall so kind of a win lose although hall didn’t play that well in the back this week, goldy really stepped up, and the unsung heroes were definitely conway, stammler, pacheco, and mendes. I hope to see celadas next week it will be interesting to see him try to fit in with this lineup.

    Reply
  22. Yeah, Healy was a really nice surprise on the commentary. Olave didn’t play because RSL didn’t want him playing on turf.

    I’m very pleased all around. Almost everyone played well, whether quietly or loudly. My only complaints are Smith’s aimlessness and Richards’ refusal to pass.

    Reply

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