The New York Red Bulls are in San Jose today to take on the San Jose Earthquakes in what amounts to a must-win for the Red Bulls (okay, so losing won’t eliminate them, but a loss or even a draw would drop them even further back in the loaded East).

It’s a match-up of teams showing off new faces as San Jose will feature Darren Huckerby, Francisco Lima and Scott Sealy at home for the first time since all three were acquired. The match will also mark Jorge Rojas first road start and Juan Pietravallo’s first start for the Red Bulls since officially joining the team a week ago.

I will be providing a running commentary of the match so please feel free to follow along. Share your thoughts and opinions on the match in the comments section below.

Let’s get started with the lineups and enjoy the match:

———————-

FINAL- That’s all for me. Feel free to share your post-game thoughts on the match in the comments section below and thanks for following along today.

———————-

FINAL- Red Bulls will gladly take a point in a game San Jose dominated for long stretches. With some time off now between MLS matches, Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio can focus on finding himself a starting forward to pair with Juan Pablo Angel. That and getting Cichero and Jimenez into the rotation are very crucial to the Red Bulls chances of climbing out of the Eastern Conference basement.

———————-

FINAL- And it’s over. Red Bulls 1, Earthquakes 1.

———————-

93rd minute- San Jose corner.

———————-

90th minute- Red Bulls holding on for dear life here.

———————-

87th minute- Wow, Wolyniec with a beautiful turn and run finished with a great pass to Magee, but Magee sends his shot right to Joe Cannon. Didn’t know Wolyniec had that in him.

———————-

86th minute- Red Bulls get behind San Jose on a breakout as Magee carries it a long way, but Angel of all people has his touch let him down in the area.

———————-

85th minute- Ramiro Corrales and Mendes get into a bit of a scrap. Corrales looked like he sent a little headbutt Mendes’ way but no call for that.

———————-

80th minute- It’s interesting to see just how much the Red Bulls attack misses Oscar Echeverry. Okay, I’m kidding. Just wanted to see if you were still awake.

———————-

77th minute- Shea Salinas is in for O’Brien and the extra speed could create problems for the Red Bulls.

———————-

76th minute- Red Bulls offense is invisible right now.

———————-

74th minute- WOW. Goldthwaite almost put one past Conway. Ugly.

———————-

72nd minute- Can the Red Bulls steal this one? It is entirely possible. The San Jose defense isn’t that strong, the Red Bulls just need to keep the ball long enough to string some passes together. Pietravallo is doing better this half, which should help.

———————-

70th minute- Angel sets up Wolyniec on the doorstep but he doesn’t get there, does enough to force a corner. Parke sends the corner inches high. He many headers has Parke barely missed in his career?

———————-

68th minute- Rojas with a nice ball to spring Van Den Bergh, the cross forces a corner kick.

———————-

65th minute- San Jose with a wasted free kick. Johnson is drawing an inordinate amount of fouls and good free kick chances but the Earthquakes can’t take advantage.

———————-

63rd minute- Johnson has a shot saved but he had Huckerby wide-open on the left side of the box.

———————-

61st minute- San Jose corner.

———————-

61st minute- Red Bulls nearly caught on the counter but San jose can’t convert a great chance.

———————-

59th minute- Angel free kick is blocked but now the Red Bulls have a corner kick. Nothing comes of that.

———————-

59th minute- Red Bulls with a dangerous free kick

———————-

57th minute- Here’s a question. How did the Red Bulls miss out on Ryan Johnson? The San Jose forward has been a nice find for the Earthquakes but this past winter he was playing for the New Jersey Ironmen in the MISL.

———————-

55th minute- Goldthwaite with a yellow for a foul on Ryan Johnson. Dangerous free kick for San Jose just misses a few heads.

———————-

52nd minute- Stammler came out because of flu-like symptoms, which explains why Pietravallo stayed in despite his poor play-like symptoms.

———————-

50th minute- Looks more like a 4-4-2 with Mendes and Parke centrally, Freeman at right back and Magee on the right flank.

Wolyniec goes down in the area but no penalty call. Clean tackle but nice pass from Angel to Wolyniec in the area. Good run there.

———————-

49th minute- Here’s what we’re seeing:

———-Angel———-Wolyniec————–

VDB————Rojas————–Freeman

———–Magee——Pietravallo————

Goldthwaite—–Parke————–Mendes

——————-Conway———————–

———————-

46th minute- My bad, Pietravallo is still in the match. Mike Magee for Seth Stammler and Wolyniec for Boyens.

———————-

HALFTIME- We’re almost under way and for those of you wondering, I’m watching Telefutura. The picture is a bit sharper.

Looks like Wolyniec has come into the match for Pietravallo.

———————-

HALFTIME- What changes will we see at halftime? Pietravallo has been shaky but I’m not sure you yank him just yet. I think we’ll see Wolyniec soon because the lone forward offense isn’t working.

———————-

HALFTIME- San Jose 1, Red Bulls 1. If the Red Bulls came in looking for a tie then they have certainly played that way. The Earthquakes will head to the locker room unhappy at a 1-1 score that should probably be 3-0 if they could finish and if their defense hadn’t put one past their own goalkeeper.

———————-

45th minute- Stammler doesn’t look all that comfortable o
n the right flank but he’s a better option than most.

———————-

44th minute- The Earthquakes have thoroughly dominated the play here yet the score is tied. Not sure what answers are on Juan Carlos Osorio’s bench.

———————-

43rd minute- San Jose with another corner kick.

———————-

38th minute- If Mendes and Pietravallo don’t start winning and holding the ball better the Red Bulls are doomed to get overrun by a San Jose attack with plenty of weapons.

———————-

33rd minute- Huckerby strips Parke and nearly sets up a San Jose goal. Parke is very lucky on that one. He got caught on the ball and should have paid for that one.

———————-

30th minute- The Red Bulls miss Dane Richards today. Without him the offense just fizzles.

———————-

27th minute- The Red Bulls attack has consisted of pumping long balls into the attacking third, a tactic that hasn’t and won’t work. Juan Pablo Angel can’t be happy.

———————-

23rd minute- It’s early but Pietravallo has looked shaky at best.

———————-

21st minute- I think we need to put out an APB on Jorge Rojas. Has anybody see him?

———————-

17th minute- The Red Bulls midfield is losing the battle here, with the central midfield providing little in the way of possession.

———————-

14th minute- Sealy does very well to get a shot on goal that Conway saves, but the rebound falls to a wide-open Huckerby for an easy finish.

———————-

13th minute- GOAL SAN JOSE. Huckerby taps home a Sealy rebound. Yes, the jinx lives.

———————-

13th minute- San Jose is dominating early on but can’t get a shot past Conway.

———————-

10th minute- San Jose pretty unlucky to not be leading this game. You wonder how they respond to that own goal. Nothing much yet.

———————-

5th minute- Pressure from Stammler forces a poor header from a San Jose defender over Joe Cannon’s head for the goal. Red Bulls 1, San Jose 0

———————-

4th minute- GOAL RED BULLS. A San Jose own goal. Ugly.

———————-

3rd minute- We’re underway and San Jose has had the early possession.

———————-

PRE-GAME- So what will be key today? Getting Rojas the ball and good wing defending from Van Den Bergh and Stammler. If they accomplish these things I think the Red Bulls will find enough chances for Angel and leave San Jose with three points.

———————-

PRE-GAME– No Gabriel Cichero or Diego Jimenez today, but both are expected to be eligible and ready to go for the team’s next MLS match, against D.C. United on Aug. 10 (as well as the team’s friendly against FC Barcelona on Aug. 6.

———————-

PRE-GAME– Here is the Red Bulls starting lineup:

—————————Angel—————————

—————————Rojas—————————

Van Den Bergh—Mendes—-Pietravallo—–Stammler

Goldthwaite—–Boyens——–Parke——–Freeman

—————————Conway————————-

BENCH– Thornton, Leitch, Sassano, Ubiparipovic, Magee, Borman, Wolyniec

I think we’ll see the 4-5-1 as the Red Bulls look to win the midfield battle against a San Jose team that has some quality in the middle of the field with Huckerby, Lima and Ronnie O’Brien.

And for those of you wondering about Oscar Etcheverry, he is home resting his injured knee.