Good evening folks. The New York Red Bulls are in Kansas City tonight to face the Wizards (8pm, MSG), hoping they can halt a terrible skid and salvage a season that is quickly turning ugly.
The Wizards have their own issues, sitting in last place in the East and needing victories in bunches to get back into the race. A win tonight would go a long way in helping their cause.
I will do a running commentary on the match so feel free to follow along. If you will be watching the match, please feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions on the match in the comments section below.
Enjoy the match:
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FINAL- That’s all from me tonight. Thanks for following along here and feel free to share your post-game thoughts in the comments section below. Good night.
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FINAL– Here are some final thoughts on the match:
Juan Pablo Angel gave some reason for optimism about his second half.
The midfield needs reinforcements ASAP.
John Wolyniec showed why he deserves to stay on the team. Oscar Echeverry showed why he doesn’t.
Mike Magee didn’t make a strong case for being kept around.
The Red Bulls need Angel and Dane Richards on the field together to compete.
It will be very interesting to see what lineup takes the field against Los Angeles in nine days.
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FINAL- Wizards 2, Red Bulls 1.
Two breakdowns cost the Red Bulls tonight, though they finally showed life in a strong final 20 minutes. That wasn’t enough to win tonight, but perhaps some players showed enough to earn some confidence from Osorio once the reinforcements show up next week.
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92nd minute– Wow, Kevin Hartman has bailed out the Wizards.
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91st minute– SAVE HARTMAN> WOW. He just made a great save on a Van Den Bergh shot. That was the equalizer.
GOLDTHWAITE MISSES BY INCHES.
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90th minute– Two minutes of stoppage time.
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88th minute– Can the Red Bulls find another good chance?
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86th minute– I’ll say one thing, Chris Leitch has been solid at left back all night.
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85th minute– I said Wolyniec could create some chances and that was a great one, missed by inches.
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84th minute– RICHARDS with a great shot that forces a save from Hartman. WOW.
WOLYNIEC HITS oNE OFF THE POST. Wow, that was close.
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84th minute– Another KC corner coming.
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81st minute– Wolyniec is now in for Echeverry. I really wouldn’t be surprised to see Wolyniec create some chances.
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78th minute– A rough foul by Espinoza on Richards and that needs to be a yellow card. No question.
Wolyniec set to come in for Echeverry.
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76th minute- Wizards come back and Lopez forces a corner after a good shot is blocked out.
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74th minute– The Wizards look flat right now and vulnerable for an equalizer.
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72nd minute– And just like that, Richards comes in and helps generate a goal. The Red Bulls have awakened. Is it too late? Not really, there’s time for an equalizer to come.
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70th minute- GOAL RED BULLS. JUAN PABLO ANGEL with the headeroff a nice cross in from Richards. Wizards 2, Red Bulls 1.
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69th minute– Harrington and Angel get into it a bit, maybe Angel criticized his faux-hawk.
"Toss-in" and DRINK.
And there’s Dane Richards, who is already hustling more than all of his teammates.
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68th minute– Dane Richards comes in for Mendes and Echeverry STILL hasn’t come out. Why? I have no idea.
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67th minute– How things have changed for the Red Bulls. Angel scored five goals against KC last year, five of his 19. This year, halfway into the season, Angel has two goals. Ouch.
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65th minute– Ivan Trujillo just ran in to break up a play and showed more hustle in one play than the Red Bulls have shown all night.
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64th minute– This is miserable. The type of miserable that
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62nd minute– When will we see Dane Richards?
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61st minute– Stammler with the first real good ball into the area, but Echeverry and Angel both miss it.
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59th minute– Mendes gets a good header but sends it wide.
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55th minute– Here’s a fair question: Is Magee/Stammler/Ubiparipovic-Sassano/Mendes the worst midfield in club history?
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54th minute– Can the Red Bulls avoid another blowout? That’s the hope at this point. Asking for a comeback is a bit much, but pulling a goal back would be good for team morale, which is lower than James Earl Jones’ voice right now.
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48th minute– I know there are 42 minutes left but this game is over.
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47th minute- GOAL WIZARDS. Davy Arnaud with the goal. WOW. Wizards 2, Red Bulls 0.
Great ball in and Arnaud beats Conway to it. Nightmare for the Red Bulls.
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46th minute– Ubiparipovic is in for Luke Sassano. The only sub.
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HALFTIME– Ubiparipovic for Magee is another move I wouldn’t mind seeing.
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HALFTIME– What will see in the second half? We had better see Dane Richards for Oscar Echeverry. That much is clear.
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HALFTIME– Does anybody actually enjoy these stadium updates? It’s good to keep fans informed, but the whole "guy in a hardhat" thing is getting tired.
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HALFTIME- Wizards 1, Red Bulls 0. The Red Bulls have never been much of a threat, but to be fair it’s been an ugly game in general.
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45th minute– KC with a dangerous free kick chance
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45th minute– ANGEL comes close, but Hartman stops his flick shot on a loose ball.
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44th minute– Mendes with a good break-up of a dangerous KC sequence.
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41st minute– Another yellow for another foul on Stammler, this time on Victorine. Stammler’s getting abused.
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39th minute– Anyone else see the Jewsbury-Eider Gudjohnsen look-a-like thing?
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39th minute– Jack Jewsbury with a rough challenge on Seth Stammler, drawing a yellow. Stammler is still down. Not sure why Jewsbury is complaining.
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37th minute– It’s interesting watching Jimmy Conrad just camp out at the penalty spot and clear out all crosses into the KC penalty area. It’s good work, but a simple strategy when you’re playing on a middle-school-sized field.
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35th minute– I have to say that playing a game on this narrow a field is tough, well tough to watch unless you’re a fan of crosses and headers rather than quality build-ups.
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33rd minute– Wow, was that Echeverry actually running at full sprint? It only took a few months to see that again.
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32nd minute– Does this referee have a whistle? How about cards?
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31st minute– It’s tough to figure out where Red Bulls chances will come here aside from long-range prayers.
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30th minute– Shep Messing using the "Central Attacking Midfielder" term. Who knew Shep was a CAM fan.
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29th minute– "Toss-In." DRINK.
And folks, Lionel Messi will NOT be playing in the Red Bulls-Barcelona match. He’ll be playing in the Olympics.
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28th minute– I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a soccer player walk during a match as much as Oscar Echeverry seems to just walk.
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27th minute– I think this match needs a drinking game. How about a drink for any time Steve Cangielosi says "Toss-in."
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26th minute– Jon Conway looks completely lost right now on all the crosses coming in.
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25th minute– Hartman makes another save on a long-range Stammler blast.
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24th minute– ANGEL with a dangerous long-range shot that forces a good save from Hartman.
Red Bulls corner kick.
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24th minute– KC gets a great look on goal but can’t finish. The Red Bulls got lucky there.
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22nd minute– Another KC corner, something the Red Bulls can’t afford to keep giving up.
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20th minute– The Red Bulls just look lost right now and are on their heels.
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17th minute– Juan Pablo Angel looks rusty early on.
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14th minute– The Wizards are on the attack.
Back to the goal, Goldthwaite blew the mark on Conrad for those of you who didn’t see it. If there’s a player you can’t leave alone it’s Conrad on that play.
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13th minute– Luke Sassano wastes a perfect chance to equalize, chooses to pass rather than shoot when in alone on goal.
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10th minute- GOAL WIZARDS. Jimmy Conrad heads home a good Lopez corner kick. Awful for the Red Bulls.
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9th minute– Red Bulls almost put something together but Echeverry has a pass intercepted. There should be plenty of chances on this short field. We’ll see who finishes their chances between these struggling offenses.
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8th minute– I have to say that I’m surprised to see Magee get the start. He has been playing poorly and sources tell me he’s in Osorio’s doghouse.
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5th minute– This match will certainly serve as a final chance for some Red Bulls players to impress head coach Juan Osorio because two or more players will be waived in the coming weeks.
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3rd minute– For those of you who didn’t know, the Wizards’ home field has an absurdly narrow playing field, so keep an eye out for that.
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2nd minute– Looks like Sassano will be in a central midfield role, with Stammler watching Claudio Lopez.
KC with an early corner.
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PRE-GAME– Here is KC’s starting lineup:
———Trujillo——-Sealy————-
—————-Victorine——————
Lopez—————————Arnaud
—————-Morsink—————-
Harrington——————-Jewsbury
————Conrad—Hohlbein———
——————Hartman————–
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PRE-GAME– We will see the Colombian Connection up top, with Angel and Echeverry finally starting together (first time since the season-opening win against Columbus). These two played very well together in pre-season.
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PRE-GAME– So why no Richards? Fatigue is a concern with the Jamaican winger, particularly after his last performance. There’s also the fact that Claudio Lopez is on the left wing for KC and is a major threat (Sassano is a better defender on the flank). This probably also explains the decision to start Chris Leitch over Hunter Freeman at right back. Leitch is a better defensive option than Freeman.
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PRE-GAME- Here is the Red Bulls lineup for tonight:
RED BULLS STARTING LINEUP
———–Angel——-Echeverry————
——-Magee—————-Sassano——–
————Mendes—Stammler————
Van Den Bergh————————Leitch
———Goldthwaite—Parke—————
—————–Conway———————
BENCH– Thornton, Boyens, Freeman, Borman, Ubiparipovic, Richards, Wolyniec.