Call it Must-Win May for the New York Red Bulls, who begin a four-game home stand tonight against the struggling San Jose Earthquakes.
The Red Bulls are in last place in the Eastern Conference and need three points tonight to snap a three-match winless streak. Let's face it, the Red Bulls need a handful of wins, and need to start that streak tonight.
i will be providing commentary throughout the match. Please feel free to follow along here and, as always, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action:
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FINAL– That's all for now. Feel free to share your post-match thoughts in the comments section below. Good night.
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FINAL– Man of the Match goes to Jorge Rojas, for helping kick off this rout. Mac Kandji and Juan Pablo Angel also deserve high honors, while Carlos Johnson and Albert Celades also played well.
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FINAL- RED BULLS 4, Earthquakes 1. And Red Bulls fans can put down their torches and pitchforks (for now). The offense we've been expecting to see shows up finally. It came against a weak opponent, but it came, and now the Red Bulls will have a chance to build on this result when they face the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, May 16th.
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90th minute– This game has gotten very chippy late. Not that surprising, especially with a young ref.
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88 minute– Amarikwa with a yellow card for a late challenge on Cepero. I tell you, he's only a rookie, but he's one of the chippier players in the league.
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86th minute– Pablo Campos came on for Cam Weaver.
So the easy question is this: What will the starting lineup be vs. Houston?
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80th minute– John Wolyniec comes in for Juan Pablo Angel. Good round of applause for Angel, who gave his all tonight.
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79th minute– Okay, obviously the fact that they're playing a short-handed (and weak even when full-strength) Earthquakes squad should temper the enthusiasm from Red Bulls fans. that aside, it's a great performance.
Pacheco clears a shot off the line. Great play.
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77th minute– So what have we learned tonight? Jorge Rojas actually can play on the left, though in a diamond more than a flat midfield; Carlos Johnson actually can be dangerous at right back; Alberto Celades does have something in the tank, and Mac Kandji is dangerous (especially when playing up top in a two-forward attack).
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74th minute– Tonight's attendance: 8,042
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73rd minute– Danleigh Borman coming in for Jorge Rojas.
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71st minute– Shea Salinas in for Aaron Pitchkolan.
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67th minute– Quincy Amarikwa comes in for Ryan Johnson. The chances of a skirmish occuring just went up.
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65th minute– Dane Richards comes in for Celades.
Angels JUST misses, sending one wide by inches after a great series of moves in the area.
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64th minute– Eric Denton just got an accidental red card. Referee Jeff Gontarek pulled out the wrong card, but quickly pulled out the right one. It's only his second game folks, he's allowed a few of those. Okay, just one.
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60th minute– Aaron Pitchkolan with the yellow for a boot to Mac Kandji's face. The Senegalese striker is up and back on the field.
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58th minute– Red Bulls are one goal away from equaling their total for the season. Do they have one more in them?
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54th minute– You have to admire the effort from Juan Pablo Angel in a 4-1 match. Carlos Johnson is hobbling right now.
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53rd minute– SAVE CEPERO!!! Stops Alvarez with a great save. If Alvarez had a right foot he would have scored there.
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52nd minute– Definitely a good performance from Carlos Johnson. Sinisa Ubiparipovic? Not as much.
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50th minute– We're back (and no, you didn't miss anything).
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HALFTIME– The crowd is, shall we say, sparse here. That said, the crowd in 101 has been loud from the first minute. You have to give them credit considering how bad the Red Bull have been this season.
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HALFTIME– WOW. You had the sense coming in that this game could get ugly, but the Red Bulls are playing even better and Earthquakes even more badly than most would have expected.
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45th minute- GOAL EARTHQUAKES!!! Ryan Johnson heads one home on a sloppy sequence. Red Bulls 4, Earthquakes 1.
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4oth minute- GOAL KANDJI!!!!!! He just stripped Kelly Gray and raced in on goal before beating Cannon to make it 4-0 Red Bulls.
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38th minute– RED BULLS SOO CLOSE. Angel hits a Johnson cross off the crossbar and out.
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37th minute– Early returns on this lineup are good, but it's tough to tell about the defense because San Jose's attack has been invislble.
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33rd minute– San Jose has settled down finally and is getting some possession. The Red Bulls might just be tired.
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30th minute– This lineup is moving the ball around pretty well for the Red Bulls. Tough to tell how much of this is San Jose being that terrible and how much of it is the Red Bulls playing very well.
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28th minute– The Earthquakes look like they just took Nyquil. Red Bulls are flying all over the field.
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23rd minute– Kandji with the beautiful long pass on the Angel goal.
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23rd minute– GOAL ANGEL!!!! Juan PABLO ANGEL with the finish
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19th minute– Red Bulls are ALL OVER San Jose. Kandji torched Nick Garcia on one play, then Carlos Johnson got in on goal but was fouled on what looked like a PK.
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15th minute– What has gotten into the Venezuelan? Kandji with the nice flick-header on the goal.
SAVE CEPERO!!!! Great kick save.
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13th minute- GOAL ROJAS!!!!! A wide-open header off a long throw-in from Carlos Johnson. Red Bulls 2, Earthquakes 0.
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11th minute– Leitch with a hard foul on Rojas. He doesn't look to be dealing with any effects of last week's concussion.
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8th minute- Tough play Cannon, who was trying to cover Goldthwaite, who streaked in and nearly got a head on it. Rojas was 30 yards away on the goal.
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8th minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!!!! Jorge Rojas with a long free kick that Jon Conway misreads and goes in.
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6th minute– Okay, I'll say it, Red Bulls need to win by two goals for this to be an impressive victory. They absolutely should beat this short-handed San Jose squad. If they don't, Red Bulls fans may riot.
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4th minute– This is Petke's first start since the season opener vs. Seattle. I actually thought he played well in that match until the Montero giveaway.
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3rd minute– Red Bulls with some good ball movement early.
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1st minute– And we're off.
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PRE-GAME– Albert Celades makes his first start of the season.
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PRE-GAME– Some surprises in the lineup, with Ubiparipovic on the right flank in place of the struggling Dane Richards. Jorge Rojas will be on the left, though both he and Ubi will not be pure flank players. The midfield shape will be more a diamond than a flat-four midfield.
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PRE-GAME– Yes, Jon Conway is not in the lineup. He's on the bench for this one. Apparently it's a medical issue, though not one bad enough to keep him off the bench.
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PRE-GAME– Here is the Red Bulls lineup:
——————Angel———Kandji————–
————————-Celades———————
Rojas———————————-Ubiparipovic
———————–Stammler——————-
Pacheco—-Goldhtwaite—Petke—–Johnson
————————-Cepero——————–
I was pretty shocked that it was 4-1 at the half. I’ll be impressed when this team can do this against the likes of Chicago, New England and DC. And do it consistently.