Good afternoon everybody. It’s an overcast day in New Jersey as we prepare for the final MLS match of the weekend, with the Red Bulls playing host to the San Jose Earthquakes.
San Jose is coming off its first win of the season while the Red Bulls are coming off a disappointing 1-1 tie vs. New England.
I will be providing coverage from the match, including some pre-game tidbits. If you want to follow the match, please feel free to do so here.
Share your pre-game thoughts below and I will be back with the lineups after 2pm.
Enjoy the match.
———————————-
FINAL- Red Bulls 2, Earthquakes 0. And Jozy Altidore scores his first goal with the final touch of the match, finishing off a great give-and-go with Wolyniec.
Impressive performance by the defense, Altidore and Claudio Reyna, who put in a complete performance controlling things in midfield.
———————————-
94th minute- GOAL RED BULLS. JOZY ALTIDORE FINISHES HIS SECOND GOAL OF THE GAME. Assist to John Wolyniec.
———————————-
90th minute- Garcia clears a goal-bound Wolyniec shot off the line. Wolyniec catches Cannon off his line and sends it toward goal only to have Garcia race in and clear it away. That’s two goal-line clearances today for Mr. Garcia.
———————————-
89th minute- The Red Bulls need to find a way to avoid the mistake in the last minute.
———————————-
87th minute- Referee Michael Kennedy with a terrible decision to stop play and give a yellow rather than play advantage, which would have given the Red Bulls a deserved breakaway.
———————————-
81st minute- Shea Salinas comes in for Ivan Guerrero.
———————————-
79th minute- GOAL RED BULLS. Magee converts the penalty kick, hits it perfectly to the left. Red Bulls 1, Earthquakes 0.
———————————-
78th minute- PENALTY RED BULLS- Altidore taken down in the penalty area by Cochrane. Great pass from Wolyniec to spring Altidore.
———————————-
78th minute- San Jose is knocking the ball around now. They’ll be content with a tie.
———————————-
76th minute- Goldthwaite’s injury is a strained back.
———————————-
75th minute- Mendes coming in for Goldthwaite.
———————————-
75th minute- Goldthwaite limping off, he’s coming out.
———————————-
72nd minute- Goldthwaite is hurt, looks like a shoulder.
———————————-
71st minute- Look for Borman to replace Van Den Bergh pretty soon.
———————————-
69th minute- Today’s attendance: 9,053. Remember folks, that number includes tickets distributed, meaning the people who stayed home with tickets still count, and there were PLENTY of those today.
———————————-
67th minute- For those of you keeping track at home, that gives San Jose four former MetroStars/Red Bulls on the field. Peguero, Jason Hernandez, Joe Vide and Ramiro Corrales.
———————————-
66th minute- Peguero for Grabavoy on the next stoppage.
———————————-
65th minute- Peguero looks ready to come into the match.
———————————-
62nd minute- Jeff Parke hits a wide-open header right to Joe Cannon on a Reyna free kick. That was a wasted chance.
———————————-
61st minute- Corrales with a yellow card for fouling Jozy Altidore in the open field.
———————————-
59th minute- Goldthwaite is fine and back on the field.
———————————-
58th minute- Kevin Goldthwaite is hurt.
———————————-
57th minute- Red Bulls keep on knocking but can’t score or test Cannon.
———————————-
52nd minute- Magee gets his head on a corner kick but sends it high over the bar.
———————————-
46th minute- Red Bulls with a dangerous free kick on the right side of the field, about 25 yards from goal. Van Den Bergh’s kick doesn’t find anybody.
———————————-
46th minute- Mike Magee in for Sinisa Ubiparipovic and Joe Vide in for Gavin Glinton.
———————————-
HALFTIME- Red Bulls 0, Earthquakes 0. The Red Bulls controlled the bulk of the possession, but couldn’t put any real dangerous shots on goal. The Earthquakes have to be happy going in tied. They’re in position to steal a win in the second half, particularly if Peguero Jean Philippe can come on and create some problems.
———————————-
45th minute- Red Bulls look a little worn out right now.
———————————-
41st minute- Parke streaks in to head home a corner kick but his header goes over the crossbar.
———————————-
40th minute- The Red Bulls midfield has played very well today, which is due at least in some part to San Jose not having any real strong defensive-minded midfielders in its set-up.
———————————-
38th minute- Reyna has his shot cleared off the line after a beautiful give-and-go with Dave Van Den Bergh. Cannon gets a hand on Reyna’s shot, slowing it down enough for Nick Garcia to race in and clear it away.
———————————-
37th minute- Good stuff from the Red Bulls this game, but nothing in the final third. Claudio Reyna is running like a man possessed. I wonder how much he’ll have left for the second half.
———————————-
30th minute- Sassano with a shot that’s deflected out for a corner. Nothing comes from the corner.
———————————-
29th minute- And Joe Cannon finally gets a touch.
———————————-
27th minute- It should be stated right now that anything less than a win by the Red Bulls would be disastrous considering the good starts that so many Eastern Conference teams are off to.
———————————-
25th minute- The Red Bulls are pressing but have yet to create a real good chance on goal.
———————————-
21st minute- Effort certainly hasn’t been a problem for the Red Bulls, who have been hustling all over the field.
———————————-
20th minute- Kamara is okay and back on the field.
———————————-
18th minute- Looks like Kei Kamara is hurt.
———————————-
17th minute- Goldthwaite with a perfect slide tackle on O’Brien.
———————————-
16th minute- Stammler with a great intervention in the penalty area on Guerrero.
———————————-
14th minute- San Jose with a long free kick.
———————————-
12th minute- Both teams are struggling to string together a good sequence of passes.
———————————-
10th minute- San Jose corner kick.
———————————-
8th minute- A long Red Bulls free kick is headed wide.
———————————-
6th minute- Rookie Luke Sassano with an open look near goal but sends his side volley high.
———————————-
4th minute- Leitch is back in and looks fine.
———————————-
2nd minute- Chris Leitch is injured after a collision in the peanlty area. Looks like his left knee.
———————————-
2nd minute- And we’re off.
———————————-
PRE-GAME– Today is Jeff Parke’s 106th game for the club, tying him for fourth-place all-time with Tab Ramos.
———————————-
PRE-GAME- Cloudy and 54 degrees today.
———————————-
PRE-GAME- The teams are taking the field. And the crowd is….not here. Okay, so maybe there are a few thousand fans hers.
———————————-
PRE-GAME- Jozy Altidore vs. Ryan Cochrane. That will likely be the match-up that decides the winner today. Cochrane is a seasoned veteran but Altidore is a beast. If San Jose uses Nick Garcia on Altidore I think Altidore’s speed will be too much for Garcia. Now, this all hinges on the Red Bulls actually getting Altidore some service.
———————————-
PRE-GAME- So you’re wondering why Chris Leitch is starting, right? Well, as I stated last week, he did a decent job of defender on the right wing against New England. Against San Jose, I think his speed will be an asset against Ivan Guerrero. He is a better option than Carlos Mendes in this match-up.
———————————-
PRE-GAME- Just overheard on the walkie talkie of a Red Bulls operative in the press box: "I’ve got a Gary Smith here from Arsenal looking for a media credential." "Arsenal?" "Arsenal Football Club." Hmmm, I wonder (not really) who Arsenal is here to see (assuming the whole thing wasn’t a hoax). And yes, there is a Gary Smith who used to be a scout with Arsenal who is now an assistant coach with the Colorado Rapids.
———————————-
PRE-GAME- For those of you wondering, yes, Jean-Philippe Peguero is in uniform. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him get on the field today.
———————————-
PRE-GAME- Keys to the game today? Dealing with Ronnie O’Brien is high on the list and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Seth Stammler and Dave Van Den Bergh swap roles on occasion to put the tenacious Stammler on O’Brien. San Jose doesn’t have the deadly playmakers in central midfielders who will beat you with quickness so Van Den Bergh can afford to play in the middle with Ubiparipovic.
———————————-
PRE-GAME- Here is San Jose’s lineup:
————-Kamara—–Glinton—————
Guerrero——————————-O’Brien
————Corrales—Grabavoy————-
Riley—-Cochrane–Garcia—–Hernandez
———————Cannon——————
BENCH- Burpo, Vide, Denton, Johnson, Peguero, Salinas, Cunliffe
———————————-
PRE-GAME- Here is the Red Bulls lineup:
————-Altidore—–Wolyniec———–
VDB—————-Reyna————-Sassano
————Stammler—Ubiparipovic——–
Goldthwaite——–Parke————-Leitch
———————Conway——————
BENCH- Thornton, Freeman, Mendes, Brunner, Magee, Borman, Megaloudis
———————————-
PRE-GAME– I’m at Giants Stadium and I think it’s safe to say the crowd will be sparse today. We’re less than an hour from kick and the stadium is basically empty. I saw some crowds making their way into the building but it’s going to be a small crowd, and a potentially record-setting crowd.
———————————-