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MLS Playoffs: New York Red Bulls vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Match Night Commentary

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BY ADAM SERRANO

The New York Red Bulls begin their MLS Playoffs campaign tonight as they travel west to Buck Shaw Stadium to face the San Jose Earthquakes (10pm, Telefutura). 

The Red Bulls completed a run from worst to first to make the playoffs for the first time since their MLS Cup appearance in 2008. However, the injury bug as put a damper on the celebrations as Thierry Henry, Ibrahim Salou, and Tony Tchani will be unavailable tonight. For the Earthquakes, the conversation begins with their white-hot forward Chris Wondolowski. The MLS Golden Boot winner has scored the last ten goals for San Jose and will need to put in a big performance if the Earthquakes are going to have a chance in the series. 

I will be providing commentary throughout the match, live from Buck Shaw Stadium so please feel free to follow along here. As always, feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below. 

Enjoy the action (Commentary is after the jump): 

FINAL – I'm heading into the locker room, check back to SBI for more coverage of tonight's match. Thank you for following along.

Buenas Noches!

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FINAL – The Red Bulls take all three points in a dominating performance against the Red Bulls. Wondolowski was a non factor throuhout held under wraps throughout by a stiff Red Bulls defense. Ream and the Red Bulls defense came up big, but it was Joel Lindpere, who provided the dagger that put the Earthquakes away. 

The Earthquakes will now need a two goal win at Red Bull Arena — where NY has conceded only 9 goals all season — to keep their MLS Cup dreams alive. 

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FINAL – Red Bulls take all three points, in a 1-0 victory over the Earthquakes. 

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93rd Minute – WOW SAVE COUNDOUL!!! Earthquakes earn a throw in, but the effort is cleared. Only moments to go. 

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91st Minute – 3 minutes of stoppage as Robinson comes in for goal scoring hero, Lindpere. 

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87th Minute – The Red Bulls now content to pepper the ball around the field and leave Buck Shaw with the one goal lead. 

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86th Minute – Eduardo with a dangerous run, but is offside yet again. Lazy play by the Brazilian for the second time tonight. 

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85th Minute – What a chance right there and Eduardo (and Wondolowski) will be kicking themselves for not finishing that chance. 

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82nd Minute – OFF THE BAR!! EDUARDO HITS IT OFF THE BAR ON THE REBOUND! 

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80th Minute – The Earthquakes are looking very frustrated right now as even the composure of Wondolowski is wearing thin. Poor performance by the Quakes tonight. 

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79th Minute – The Earthquakes are on life-support right now. The defense has major gaps, but the team most press forward in search of the equalizer. 

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78th Minute – Agudelo has been incredibly impressive and is performing well for being in a youngster in his first MLS playoff start. The forward could have a national team future for sure. 

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76th Minute – For all those wondering, I'm catching a 7am flight out of San Jose to Seattle tomorrow morning and I will be providing a commentary from Qwest field for the Galaxy vs. Sounders tomorrow night. 

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74th Minute – Alvarez is not doing well on that left side. Just for those wondering, Alvarez is tied with Ike Opara for the second leading scorer on the Quakes…with 3. The Earthquakes need someone else to step up. 

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72nd Minute – The Quakes can not find the last pass. Johnson got into space, but Ream with the big time stop to earn the clearance, the rookie has been sensational tonight. 

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71st Minute – Free kick to the Quakes after Miller brings down Geovanni. Miller picks up a yellow card and the Quakes get the free kick in a dangerous spot.

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69th Minute – Quakes Sub: Arturo Alvarez comes in for Sam Cronin. The Earthquakes are going for it.  Frank Yallop is really throwing all his sticks in the wind now. 

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68th Minute – Attendance tonight is 10,525, a sell out at Buck Shaw. 

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65th Minute – Wondolowski playing int he center of the park now with Eduardo teaming up with Johnson. Both are pretty big targets for the Quakes to cross to. 

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63rd Minute – WOW!! Wondolowski earns a yellow card for diving. It looked like Coundoul made contact, and should have been a no call. The Crowd has quickly turned against Paul Ward. 

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62nd Minute – Eduardo coming in for Sealy as the Earthquakes make their first change. Timely change. 

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61th Minute – SAVE BUSCH on an Agudelo shot. The Earthquakes hit back on the counter, but a poor cross by Johnson goes out for a goal kick. 

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58th Minute – Lindpere with a clinical finish after the ball goes off of a header and falls to the Estonian. Lindpere buries it to the right of Busch. The Red Bulls are playing with lots of confidence now as they are 14-0-1 when scoring first. 

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55th Minute – RED BULLS GOAL!!! LINDPERE SLOTS ONE TO THE RIGHT OF BUSCH! RBNY up 1-0!

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54th Minute – McDonald with an impressive clearance that keeps Richards from earning a shot on goal. 

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51st Minute – SAVE BUSCH!! and its out for a corner. Busch is coming up huge tonight and will be tough to beat. 

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50th Minute – Met up with a few of the ESC, who made the trip. Very nice people. Red Bulls with a free kick from about 35 yards out. 

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48th Minute – JUST WIDE! Wondolowski hits a header just wide of net. 

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45th Minute – And. Here. We. Go!

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HALFTIME – 0-0 at the half. The Earthquakes defense has come up big to prevent the Red Bulls from taking a hold of the match and the series. Hernandez and Busch both with HUGE saves to keep the score leveled.  Both clubs have done a fantastic job of containing each other's key weapons as Wondolowski and Richards have failed to make an impact so far.

If you are following along, let me hear from you. 

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45th Minute – The corner goes for not and the whistle is blown. 0-0 at the half.

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45th Minute – The shot goes JUST wide, but the Quakes earn a corner. 

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45th Minute – DANGEROUS free kick after Ballouchy earns a yellow card for a dangerous foul on Geovanni.

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45th Minute – 1 minute of stoppage

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43rd Minute – SAVE OFF THE LINE!!! JASON HERNANDEZ!! Busch goes a bit to far out of goal and is knocked around by Angel. Lindpere takes the shot and Hernandez clears it off the line. WOW What a play. 

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41st Minute – Free Kick to San Jose. Paul Ward will not go into his pocket after Marquez clips Geovanni. The effort goes just wide as Convey sends it into the side netting.

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40th Minute – Mendes lucky to avoid a yellow after shoving Johnson to the ground. Quakes earn the free kick. 

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39th Minute – The Red Bulls with a throw in a very threatening position after Corrales clears. 

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38th Minute – If you are following along, let me hear from you and where you are coming from. 

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37th Minute – Ward gets clipped and the Quakes earn a free kick, but their effort is clared by Dane Richards. 

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36th Minute – The Earthquakes are starting to threaten on the counter. Working up good combination passes and threatening the flanks. 

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31st Minute – SAVE COUNDOUL! Convey tries to send in a cross, but Coundoul comes up big, but nearly loses the ball. Close call for Coundoul. 

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28th Minute – Just for the Red Bulls fans, there is a small contingent of the ESC,who made the trip west for this Eastern conference playoff game. Cheers to the ESC for showing up. 

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25th Minute – The Earthquakes are in dire need of a spark to complete that last pass. 

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23rd Minute – Angel called for a handball after touching it with his forearm. Little doing so far as both teams are strugglingg to take control. 

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22nd Minute –  San Jose's NASL mascot, "Crazy George" doing his part to ignite the crowd. Gotta love NASL mascots. 

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20th Minute – SIDE NETTING! Geovanni fires a shot after the ball falls to him on a Roy Miller defense error. Lucky moment for New York.

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19th Minute – Earthquakes earn the corner after Richards makes a nice clearance on a Convey shot, but nothing comes of the effor. 

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17th Minute – Scott Sealy has had zero impact on the match, I believe that only Frank Yallop thinks that the Trinidadian is in form. 

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14th Minute – The Earthquakes are absorbing A LOT of pressure and performing well, but can they continue to do this. Reminds me a lot of the last time I was here when the Quakes hosted the Galaxy. 

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10th Minute – WHAT A SAVE!! BUSCH comes up big again on Lindpere! Estonian tries to curl it far post, but Busch comes up big. Rafa to take the corner.

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9th Minute – Ryan Johnson, who led the Quakes in goals last year has turned into a fantastic holding forward. Expect him to be active laying off the passes to Wondolowski.

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7th Minute – If there is an x factor for San Jose, it's Busch. He's a clutch goalkeeper capable of leading the Quakes to MLS Cup with timely goaltending.

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5th Minute – SAVE BUSCH!!!!! Marquez with the corner, Ballouchy gets a head on it, but Busch comes up big. 

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4th Minute – Apologies for some musical chairs at Buck Shaw which delayed the commentary. Geovanni with a shot wide left about a minute ago. 

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1st Minute – We're underway  from Buck Shaw!

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PREGAME: The deciding factor will be, which team can strike first. The Red Bulls are 14-0-1 when scoring first, while San Jose is 12-0-2 with the first goal. The clubs are also equally poor when they concede the first goal with the Earthquakes, 1-10-1 and the Red Bulls, 1-9-2. 

Looks like we may have a game of score first and win. 

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PREGAME: Both teams are running standard 4-4-2 diamond formations. The Earthquakes replace Khali Stephenson for the in form — according to Frank Yallop — Scott Sealy, who will lead the Earthquakes attack. Chris Wondolowski has been moved up front closer to goal with Brazilian DP, Geovanni lining up on the side. 

For the Red Bulls, the rash of injuries will force highly touted prospect Juan Agudelo to line up beside Angel up top. The midfield of the Red Bulls is anchored by Rafa Marquez in the back, who will be instrumental in breaking up attacks and starting counters.  Keep close attention on Dane Richards, who will be lining up against SJ captain Ramiro Corrales. Richards' speed will be a tall order for Corrales to handle. 

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PREGAME: Here are the line ups

NEW YORK RED BULLS 

———–Angel——–Agudelo————-

Lindpere——-Ballouchy————Richards

——————-Marquez———————

Miller—–Ream——-Mendes—–Albright

——————–Coundoul——————

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

———–Johnson———–Wondolowski———-

 Convey————–Sealy—————-Geovanni

———————–Cronin————————-

Corrales——-Hernandez——McDonald——–Ward

———————-Busch————————–

 

Comments

  1. Fantastic performance from RB New York. Loved that I could hear traveling NY fans over the San Jose fans a couple of times. The San Jose fans were great too though.

    Reply
  2. It is great to hear how loud the traveling RB fans are. RB is playing well on the road, and Aguedo is playing well for a first start. Joel keeps this team in the chase.

    Reply
  3. Following from Hollywood back in Adam, you gonna do a live commentary in Seattle tomorrow as well?

    Agudelo does look amazing!

    We need him, Jack McInerney, Tristen Bowen, Omar Salgado and any others to pan out at least to be MLS scorers that get 14+ goals a season. I’m not too excited about Mwanga since he has to wait like 3 years at least I think and well maybe for 2018?

    Reply
  4. It was tough to tell how much contact was made, but why did Wondo jump up and go after the ball after the incident? He didn’t gesticulate and cry like every other diver or even genuinely fouled player does. If anything, he stumbled and kept trying to get the ball.

    Reply
  5. Following from Gettysburg, PA—no Telefutura in South Central PA (although I admit that if I were at home in Brooklyn, I would be following along as I watch it on MSG or Telefutura).

    Reply
  6. Dan, he says fuego as in pulling the trigger, like “Fire” at a shooting range or whatnot.

    It makes a lot more sense for the passionate Spanish speaking fans

    People if you have a Digital Tuner in your TV, meaning is one of the newer ones from the last 4 or 5 years a flat pannel, and you don’t get Telefutura from Dish or whomever stick it on antenna over the air and get an antenna for the game only if you still have some bunny ears

    Reply
  7. Whenever a player takes a shot that comes close, one of the Telefutura commentators always shouts what sounds like “fuego!” or “fue gol!” Does anybody understand this? Am I hearing this right? Neither of them make sense.

    Reply
  8. It’s so refreshing to watch with announcers that can pronounce “Juan Pablo Ángel” correctly. Of course, they did botch Opara’s first name pretty badly.

    Reply
  9. Don’t need to, no one watches the knicks. They don’t even go to MSg anymore. The Red Bulls drew a bigger crowd this year per game.

    And even if people see the game, why the need for the post game to go over and watch D’Antoni take questions and not answer them… Awesome

    Reply
  10. ah, yes, MSG. I just switched to Fios due to the Cablevision BS and didn’t know where MSG was. I do have MSG plus but no HD! At least Telefutura in HD. Muy bien.

    Reply
  11. God no one watches the knicks anymore… MSG change the feed to the game…. No MSG plus in CT…. Stupid post game show…..

    Anyways go Red Bulls

    Reply

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