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Red Bulls at D.C. United: Match Night Commentary

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The New York Red Bulls are in their favorite house of horrors, RFK Stadium, tonight to take on arch-rival D.C. United (7:30pm, ESPN2). The last-place Red Bulls are in dire need of points, but finding some tonight will be difficult against a D.C. team that has had their number this year (and most years for that matter).

No Mac Kandji for the Red Bulls tonight, but Jorge Rojas is in the starting lineup as head coach Juan Carlos Osorio trots out an attacking lineup, with the hope of putting some pressure on D.C.

I will be providing commentary on the match throughout the evening so please feel free to follow along, and, as always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (lineups after the jump):

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FINAL– That's all for me. Time to catch up on some sleep. Feel free to share your thoughts on tonight's match in the comments section below. 

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FINAL– DC United 2, Red Bulls 0. D.C. moved the ball well and played with the style you're used to seeing. The Red Bulls played decently, but just never could finish and while the performance in a 3-5-2 was promising, tonight is still another shutout road loss to start a long road stretch. 

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93rd minute- GOAL DC. It's Jaime Moreno with the finish. Soft penalty, but the game was over anyway. DC UNited 2, Red Bulls 0.

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93rd minute– DC PENALTY. Conway called for fouling Gomez.

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91st minute– WoW. Kevin Goldthwaite got tackled on that free kick from Rojas but no call. Terrible.

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90th minute– Red Bulls had some chances here late, but it's been more of the same tonight. They just can't finish.

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87th minute– Good save from Wicks but Angel needs to bury that rather than trying to place it.

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86th- SAVE WICKS!!! Angel with the low shot but it's saved.

85th minute– Goldthwaite has a header go wide off a corner. Need to do better there.

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81st minute– Red Bulls free kick comes oh so close from Angel.

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74th minute– Conway saves a Pontius shot. DC knocking on the door here.

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71st minute– Red Bulls running out of time. Shame that they've played well but haven't created dangerous chances.

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64th minute– Emilio was replaced by Jaime Moreno, threw a fit on the sidelines, and was issued a red card. So it's still 11 v 11 but Emilio is now suspended for the next match and MLS fantasy owners who have Emilio are bashing their heads against the wall.

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63rd minute– Richard with a great chance but sends his shot wide. Rojas with a good pass to spring Richards.

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60th minute– Emilio comes in late on Goldthwaite, drawing a yellow in the process.

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59th minute– Game is getting a bit sloppy. Red Bulls getting close with their penetrating passes, but D.C. is still doing well to pick them off.

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56th minute– D.C. in control right now, though they've let the Red Bulls have more possession here lately.

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49th minute– SAVE CONWAY. Gomez nearly scores on the rebound. Stammler gets toasted by Gomez to start that play.

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49th minute– Gomez coming on as a sub is going to help D.C. control the midfield even more, or at least should.

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47th minute– I like the Zimmerman for Mendes sub. It makes the Red Bulls faster and Zimmerman looked good vs. D.C. United in the Open Cup.

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46th minute– We're back and Nick Zimmerman and Christian Gomez have come in.

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HALFTIME– D.C. United 1, Red Bulls 0. Quaranta's goal leads it. The Red Bulls weren't terrible, but needs to put a shot on goal and do something with the possession they're getting. 

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43rd Minute– Stammler finds Borman with a great ball but Borman can't get a good touch and doesn't get the shot off before being tackled by Wicks.

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42nd Minute– Red Bulls will be hoping to get into halftime down just one.

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37th Minute– Will the Red Bulls be able to recover? Their confidence is so low right now that I think this one gets ugly before we see an equalizer.

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36th Minute- GOAL DC UNITED!!! Santino Quaranta. Somebody lost Fred, who finds Quaranta on a late run in. Celades looks like he lost Fred.

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33rd Minute– Richards has looked good in spells, better than last week at this point.

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30th Minute– Red Bulls starting to put some pressure on now. better from them.

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29th Minute– I have to say that Rojas has looked good today. Very active and confident on the ball.

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27th Minute– Simms fouls Rojas again and gets the yellow card. Early card will effect how he plays.

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26th Minute– D.C. just doing a better job of keeping possession and passing well. Red Bulls have hit a lull.

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24th Minute– Much better stuff from the Red Bulls, but they still haven't tested Wicks.

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22nd Minute– Petke gets a touch on a dangerous ball, but can't get enough on it as Wicks makes the easy grab.

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19th Minute– Pontius nearly finds the net as D.C. looks dangerous on the counter yet again.

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18th Minute– D.C. passing well early despite the rain. Red Bulls just had a decent sequence but nothing comes of it.

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17th Minute– Neither team has taken charge here, things have hit a bit of a lull.

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11th Minute– D.C. has had better looks but I think the Red Bulls could do well in this 3-5-2.

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7th Minute– Petke with a poor clearance attempt. Doesn't look sharp early.

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6th Minute– Rojas is very active tonight. Clyde Simms has already begun with the fouling. Will the ref give an early yellow for persistent infringement?

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5th Minute– Rojas forced a shot from distance. He needs to look to pass rather than shoot there.

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4th Minute– Wallace is deployed in central midfield, with Pontius on the left flank.

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2nd Minute– Fred finds space on the wing and nearly sets up a goal early.

I'll say this, Jon Conway had better step up tonight. If he has a shaky night he's probably done as a starter.

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1st Minute– And we're off.

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PRE-GAME– It's a rainy and ugly day and early evening in DC, should make for a sloppy game.

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PRE-GAME– For those of you wondering, no, I'm no longer in Costa Rica. I arrived from San Jose about two hours ago and am watching tonight's match from the SBI compound in Jersey rather than RFK Stadium.

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PRE-GAME– The ESPN2 projected DC lineup has Pontius on the left flank and Wallace in central midfield. Not sure about that one. I could see the two swapping spots. I'll let you know what it is.

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PRE-GAME– Look for D.C. to go at Carlos Mendes, who isn't the fastest defender around.

The Jeremy Hall-Rodney Wallace should be fun to watch.

I am also curious to see where Chris Pontius is deployed. I have him in a deep midfield role because of how well he played there against New York in the U.S. Open Cup.

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PRE-GAME– Very gutsy lineup by Juan Carlos Osorio, and for me, he's put out the best possible lineup.

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PRE-GAME- Here is the D.C. United starting lineup:

—————–N’Silu———-Emilio———–

————————–Fred—————–

Pontius———————————Quaranta

————-Wallace——-Simms—————

Namoff————–Jakovic————Burch

———————-Wicks———————-

Bench: Kocic, Janicki, Gomez, Jacobson, McTavish, Khumalo, Moreno

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

————–Angel———Richards———-

———————–Roja———————-

Borman————————————-Hall

————Stammler–Celades—————

Goldthwaite——Petke————–Mendes

———————Conway——————-

BENCH- Cepero, Sassano, Smith, Wolyniec, Zimmerman, Ubiparipovic, Pietravallo

Comments

  4. >ur rite micheal ricards isn’t a forward and in his defense he really isn’t a soccer player either.

    Posted by: lou | June 04, 2009 at 09:57 PM

    UR rite, lou. Michael Richards is not a soccer player. He is a comedian. Perhaps you confused him with a former Cosmos player named Kramer.

    Reply

  5. Neutral observations:

    1. I think Richards is the stupidest player in MLS. He reminds me of an eight year old. You can almost see him thinking, “Golly I’m fast!” AND HE NEVER EVER F**KING LOOKS UP.

    2. I really think the Red Bulls are snake bit. I actually think they have played well this year – except for the part about actually scoring.

    3. I really hope this broadcast pair becomes the top pair for ESPN. They were a pleasure – especially considering the LOJH factor. (LOJH = Lack of John Harkes)

    Reply

  6. Throw the Metros Down the Well…

    So My Country Can Be Free!

    You Must Grab Them by Their Horns…

    Then We Have a Big Party!

    We can throw the gypsies down the well later if we win

    Reply

  8. ur rite micheal ricards isn’t a forward and in his defense he really isn’t a soccer player either, he is more of a track star with a ball in the way of his feet. I would agree with something similar to that lineup above.

    Reply

  9. I agree, Wolly and Zimmerman need to start, so what if they are not starters? The starters are doing crap for us right now. Why in hell did Richards stay the whole game? Am I the only one who saw in him the worst player on the field today? To his credit, he’s not a forward, I don’t know who thought of that idea!…??
    Assuming Mac is still injured and no Rojas Sunday should be:
    Conway
    Hall, Goldy, Petke, Borman
    Stamler, Ubi, Zimmerman
    Celades
    Woly
    Angel

    Reply

  11. I don’t know if I’m alone here, but I like Glenn Davis/Kyle Martino A LOT better than JP Dellacamera/John Harkes. They did a great job tonight.

    Good game from both sides tonight, but the Red Bulls are just frankly not a good team. They played with heart, however, so kudos to them for that. I was getting scared at the end, but Josh Wicks and Gomez bailed us out. It looks like Wicks has that starting spot solidified for a while.

    Did any Metro fans make the trek down? There were no camera shots of the upper deck, so I couldn’t tell, but I did think I heard a “Let’s go Metro” chant opposite the “DC United” chant at one point.

    Reply

  12. What JC OSORIO write when seat in the bench and THE game is on?…his sucking memories as a HEAD COACH………….

    Reply

  13. and Conway shows the difference on the tackle of Gomez. if a keeper gets the ball, they almost always get the call. miss the ball and take the player down and you almost always see the PK.

    Reply

  14. I’m just focusing on the positives these days. Zimmerman looks very promising, Wolyniec seems to actually care unlike most the team. I’d like to see them both start on Sunday.

    Reply

  15. Dear Santa,

    I would like to ask for my Xmas present early. I would like a new coach for the Red Bulls.

    Thank you.

    Reply

  24. you’re going to be hard pressed to find a ref calling a PK on a slide tackle by a keeper from the front that actually gets the ball. especially after a player takes that long to get the ball down.

    Reply

  25. By the way, massive props to Ives for his Costa Rica coverage on this blog! I didn’t get a chance to read his commentary during the match, but I was going through it this afternoon and I can say that no one does a better job.

    Very much appreciated!

    Reply

  26. same first half as usual, we had some good chances but one of the first mistakes we make results in a goal. I don’t understand what conway is thinking sometimes he is just bad he was out of position on that cross. Stammler is just a great player great on d, athletic, and what a ball into the box that of coars borman gets stuck under his foot.

    Reply

  27. They’re getting possession? Are you counting the time Borman took to trap the ball in the box, because that might be a bit misleading.

    Seriously though, I’ve liked Borman and Rojas tonight. The Red Bulls could be so much better if they played like a team that knew each other. I’m convinced Rojas could be a decent #10 if JCO would just settle down and start being consistent.

    Reply

  30. Uhhh, he didn’t catch him with his studs, or feet or shins for that matter, and the fall was after he was up above his knees and the keeper had a hand on the ball. No pk.

    Reply

  31. Rojas and Celades are to slow switching to defense. Unfortunately the defense get the blame but it starts with those two not paying attention.

    Reply

  33. Wicks with another mugging of Borman and no penalty. The only thug life goalie that would scissors tackle. I hate that asshat.

    Reply

  36. As for the game, the difference in the game is DC making a near post run and the Red Bulls being to static in the box….

    Reply

  37. Not about the game…but I am very much liking kyle Martino in the booth. None of the self-serving nonsense we hear from Harkes, Waldo, Lalas, et al. He is actually analyzing the game NOT explaining why he was better than currently playing!

    Reply

  40. Dear Glenn Davis,
    It’s not a “good spell here” when you’re ballooning crosses from one flank to the other, and twiddling around with tepid square balls 45 yards out.

    Reply

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