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New York Red Bulls at D.C. United: Match Night

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The New York Red Bulls and D.C. United are set to kickoff the latest installment of their heated rivalry tonight at RFK Stadium. The clubs come in tied on points in the standings, with the winner of tonight’s match creating some breathing room in the Eastern Conference Standings.

Venezuelan midfielder Jorge Rojas is in uniform for tonight’s match but will not start after visa issues kept him in Venezuela during the week. The Red Bulls will field the same starting lineup they used last week to beat defending MLS Cup champion Houston, 3-0.

I will be providing live commentary on the match throughout the night. Whether you are watching the match, or following along online, please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the match. Now let’s get started:

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FINAL- That’s all for now. I’ll check back in tonight with some post-game comments from the Red Bulls. For now, please share your comments on the match below. Thanks to those of you who followed here tonight.

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FINAL– GREAT scene. The Red Bulls fans in the upper deck are chanting loudly as Angel walks off and he’s acknowledging them as he walks off. Tell you what, I doubt those Red Bulls fans will be too disappointed as they make the ride back home tonight. D.C. United threw their best punch and the Red Bulls took it.

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FINAL– Here’s a great stat. Tonight’s match is the FIRST time in team history that the Red Bulls ever shut out D.C. United at RFK Stadium. Impressive and DEFINITELY believable.

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FINAL– Red Bulls will walk out of RFK Stadium happy with a well-earned draw. They played well, held together and came away with a road point.

D.C. United is parading around the Atlantic Challenge Cup, which it holds onto after the teams split their series this year. The holder retains the cup in the format.

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FINAL- Red Bulls 0, D.C. United 0.

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93rd minute- Red Bull wall blocks Moreno’s free kick.

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92nd minute- Jimenez with a yellow for taking down Gallardo. Not a bad free kick chance for DC, right of the arch, 30 yards or so out.

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91st minute- Quaranta with a long-range shot that forces a great save from Conway.

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90th minute– Three minutes of added time. D.C. on the back-foot as Red Bulls pressure.

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90th minute– Great passing sequence from the Red Bulls spoiled by a terrible Freeman cross. Freeman hasn’t had a good cross in months. MONTHS.

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89th minute– CRAYTON!! Diving one-handed save on a nice Jimenez header off the corner.

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89th minute– Rojas looks very good on the ball tonight. Borman forces a corner with a cross. He came in for Van Den Bergh for those wondering. Red Bulls corner.

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86th minute– Angel catches Crayton off his line a bit but can’t finish the sharp-angled shot. SO close for Angel there.

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83rd minute– The weirdest, and perhaps most genius part about the PK is the fact that Conway didn’t bother to move, which may have thrown off Moreno as he looked for a move to read.

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82nd minute– Everyone should know I had already typed in the Moreno goal. Yes, that’s the SBI jinx. Sorry DC fans. I never thought I’d see a Moreno penalty miss against the Red Bulls in my lifetime.

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81st minute- MORENO MISSES!!!! Wide LEFT.

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80th minute– DC PENALTY!!! Moreno is taken down by Boyens.

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79th minute– Borman coming in.

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77th minute– Dyachenko comes on for Doe, yes Doe. He looked awful.

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74th minute– Vide with a dangerous shot that goes wide left. Gallardo set the play up with a great run, juke of Pietravallo and perfect pass to Vide on the right flank.

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72nd minute– Red Bulls fans will be interested to know that D.C. lineup is led by four former Red Bulls in Moreno, Quaranta, Doe and Vide, with the last three all having been on the Red Bulls last season.

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71st minute– This is Gallardo’s first match in a long while. Interesting to see what he can bring.

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70th minute– Rojas for Magee.

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69th minute– Marcelo Gallardo is set to come in for D.C. United, Jorge Rojas is set to come in for the Red Bulls. Talk about an infusion of skill into this match.

Gallardo for Burch.

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68th minute– Interesting situation with Freeman, who Osorio essentially said wouldn’t see any more playing time after securing a pre-contract with IK Start. Will Freeman pull a Beckham and climb out of the doghouse and play great, or will he give up the winning goal?

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67th minute– Angel and Martinez are fine and back up.

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65th minute– Quaranta misses just wide left with a shot.

Angel and Martinez have collided heads. Colombian-on-Colombian.

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64th minute– Freeman for Leitch. Looks like Leitch is hurt. Might be his knee again.

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63rd minute– Freeman is NOW coming into the match.

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62nd minute– DC corner.

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61st minute– False alarm. No Freeman.

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60th minuteHunter Freeman is coming into this match.

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59th minute– D.C. United’s attack has gone flat, with the exception of Moreno, who is still running hard. The Red Bulls attack looks disjointed. No real creativity. Still waiting on Rojas to come in.

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56th minute– Those of you wondering how slow Doe looks tonight, he just got outrun by Andrew Boyens, who is the anti-Usain Bolt.

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55th minute– Emilio left the match with a groin injury for those of you wondering.

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54th minute– If referee berating was a stat in MLS I’m pretty sure Mike Magee would lead the league.

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53rd minute– The D.C. crowd deserves some kudos. Lively and loud bunch and a good turnout considering the U.S. Open Cup final is here on Wednesday.

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51st minute– Red Bulls with some good possession but can’t put a shot on Crayton, who hasn’t been seriously tested yet tonight.

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50th minute– Moreno and Pietravallo keep tangling. You could sell some tickets to see them fight.

Vide with a sweet turn to get loose but Doe is offside on the pass.

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49th minute– Francis Doe looks a little slow.

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47th minute– DC corner again.

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47th minute– DC corner.

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46th minute– We’re under way. No subs.

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HALFTIME– Juan Pietravallo goes into the second half without a card. Look for him to see how far he can go before getting one.

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HALFTIME– Keys to the second half? For D.C., it will be getting Guerrero and Quaranta more involved in the attack. For the Red Bulls, finding Richards, who looks poised to do some damage.

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HALFTIME– Goldthwaite’s yellow card means he will be suspended for the Red Bulls’ match at Chicago next week.

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HALFTIME– Some D.C. observations: Losing Emilio hurts. Doe has shown flashes this year but is far from reliable. Goalkeeper Louis Crayton must have watched a lot of Rene Higuita as a child because he can’t keep himself in the penalty area. He is clearly confident on the ball but looks a bit overconfident at times.

Some Red Bulls observations: Richards and Pietravallo have stood out tonight and Diego Jimenez has held up well. The midfield picked up after the 30-minute mark and you should expect to see Jorge Rojas come on in the second half to provide some offensive punch. I could see Mike Magee coming out of this match, unless Osorio chooses to bench Goldthwaite and drop Van Den Bergh back.

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HALFTIME– It’s scoreless and the Red Bulls have to be happy to have withstood D.C. United’s early onslaught. Jaime Moreno was great, but you wonder how much he has in the tank after taking a beating for 45 minutes.

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45th minute– Francis Doe came on for Luciano Emilio. Looks like Emilio was injured.

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45th minute– Conway collects.

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45th minute– DC corner.

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45th minute– Goldthwaite with a yellow card for a high boot. Looked worse than it actually was.

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45th minute– Red Bulls took D.C. United’s best pressure and held up well and the final 15 minutes have been very even.

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44th minute– Angel is up and looks fine.

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43rd minute– I have to say that referee Kevin Stott has impressed me with his restraint tonight. The ref I have called ‘The Blackjack Dealer’ on more than one occasion for his penchant for giving out cards has only given legit cards tonight and no reds surprisingly.

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42nd minute– Namoff just chops down Angel from behind and gets a yellow. Sure looked red-worthy on the replay.

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41st minute– Moreno gets a yellow for a chippy foul on Pietravallo, who has been beating him up all night. Clear payback foul there.

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39th minute– Stammler makes a great run down the middle of the field but has nothing left at the end and sends a weak shot at Crayton.

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39th minute– Dane Richards has been very active tonight. He keeps getting close but has been unlucky tonight. If anyone on the Red Bulls looks like they have a goal in them tonight, it’s Richards.

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37th minute– Whoa. Conway with a relatively easy save on an Emilio header. D.C. with a beautiful sequence before that header. Moreno has been great tonight, even with bodies draped on him he finds the best pass to make. He released Vide with a nice pass and Video curled a cross in to Emilio. The Red Bulls midfield is getting outworked.

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36th minute– Angel’s kick has no bend and goes high.

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35th minute– Red Bulls with another free kick here. A bit far out but Angel can put something on this and make Crayton work.

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33rd minute– Ivan Guerrero hasn’t had quite the impact you might have expected from his so far.

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32nd minute– The game has slowed down a bit and the Red Bulls have settled in as Richards forces his way in with a shot that forces a corner.

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25th minute– D.C. has a little more energy thus far and you just feel like the Red Bulls defense is ripe for the beating.

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20th minute– Crayton easily handles an Angel header. The D.C. goalkeeper looks very confident out there. It’s safe to say he is an upgrade over Zach Wells, who hadn’t had a great run as the starter.

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19th minute– Joe Vide strips Pietravallo and nearly hits another Goal of the Week-worthy shot, but his shot goes just wide. He looks good so far and you wonder why the Red Bulls didn’t bring him back when San Jose waived him.

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17th minute– Crayton with a save on a weaker than you would expect shot from Angel. That would be a goal most times for Angel.

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16th minute– D.C. has dominated early but the Red Bulls have held together in the back.

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15th minute– Crayton has shown off his fancy footwork twice early on here. He better be careful he doesn’t duplicate the blunder committed by Jonny Walker in this same series in this same stadium so many years ago.

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14th minute– Emilio tries to turn on Jimenez but Jimenez does well to keep his position and leave D.C. to settle for a corner they waste.

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13th minute– Given how well this lineup did against Houston you can’t really argue.

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12th minute– Those wondering about Rojas, it is Juan Carlos Osorio’s policy not to start players who don’t train with the team.

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11th minute– Joe Vide and Seth Stammler collide for a Red Bulls free kick. Interesting moment between two good friends there.

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9th minute– Conway with the save on Moreno. D.C. is attacking hard and looking good early.

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7th minute– Moreno has already shown that he will be a handful tonight. The D.C. attack relies on him to create and the Red Bulls need to find a way to contain him. Something the club has never really been able to do.

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4th minute– Red Bulls have started out a bit slowly, looking to sit back early and defend D.C.’s fast start.

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3rd minute– We’re under way and D.C. is knocking it around a bit early on.

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PRE-GAME– Here is D.C. United’s lineup:

————-Emilio——-Moreno—————-

Gutierrez—————————–Quaranta

——————Vide—–Simms————–

Burch—–Martinez—McTavish——–Namoff

——————–Crayton——————

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PRE-GAME– Here is the Red Bulls lineup for tonight:

————————Angel———————-

VDB——————-Magee————–Richards

————–Pietravallo–Stammler————–

Goldthwaite—Jimenez–Boyens———–Leitch

———————-Conway——————

BENCH- Cepero, Freeman, Parke, Borman, Rojas, Ubiparipovic, Wolyniec

Comments

  1. Whine? I’m delighted. We split the points (and goals) over three games with DC, despite the fact that they got two home games, vs our one.

    If we play like that in the playoffs, we’ll get into the second round.

    As for Doe, he looked a little chubby. Just sayin’.

    Reply
  2. How did I know Haig would find a way to whine? The other day, I asked someone who knew him if he was the bitterest man in the entire world. The response I got was “Maybe, I’m not sure.”

    Reply
  3. I am here too Ives, although late, as I just got in from a San Francisco vacation with my wife. I rushed home and was able to catch the last 35 minutes of the game… After I read your comments I felt as if I was able to see the whole game. Your comments are specific when they need to be and overview-ish and historical in counter- point. Many thanks! I was hoping the Bulls would be able to sneak a goal at the end but I am satisfied with the drawn. BTW…the DC Scum can stick the Atlantic Cup up their you know whats! On to Chicago! Go Bulls!

    Reply
  4. Agree w you kpugs. Different team showed up for this match than last week. Osorio should thank his good luck charm, whatever it is. Not a very good game from Angel, Stamler. Rojas late in coming in didn’t help. Seemed like the old ineffectual midfield of the games prior to the streak.

    Reply
  5. “D.C. United is parading around the Atlantic Challenge Cup, which it holds onto after the teams split their series this year. The holder retains the cup in the format.”

    Really? Pathetic. They had two home games to our one, couldn’t outscore us, and they’re proud of that joke trophy? Glory hunting losers.

    Reply
  6. Man. Red Bulls were lucky Jaime Suckreno missed that PK but they also dominated this match. Both teams are going to come away feeling they let this one slip away.

    Would have been a monster win, but for the first time in weeks I am okay with a draw.

    Reply
  7. good half for the redbulls. still 0-0 after withstanding pressure. The game is missing Rojas but thats the policy. He’s the type who could turn the game, so if RBNY keep the 0-0 or get a goal until Rojas comes on, I think we’ll be in good shape. Getting a point on the road isnt so bad either

    Reply
  8. Hey John (and anyone else who doesnt get FSC)

    just download TVU Player and tune into channel 21500 to get FSC. Its free and legal, thats what im watching on

    Reply
  9. The Bulls need to put rojas in so we can conrtol things in the middle, put park in, and get richards the ball if we hope to take control of this game

    Reply
  10. thanks for that update about Rojas,

    the comment section is strangely lonely tonight, maybe all those MLS fans really did leave after Kanji-gate

    Reply

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