Photo by Tony Quinn/ISIPhotos.com
BY MIKE NASTRI
The Red Bulls were able to grind out a victory 2-1 against the Philadelphia Union thanks to a goal by Salou Ibrahim and a PK from Juan Pablo Angel. New York once again got the three points despite not dominating but playing some blue-collar soccer.
"It's been I would say every game very similar; hard work, dirty work," said head coach Hans Backe. "We went out there today and started defending and defending, after 60 minutes you could see the back through midfield just dropping back to the 18-yard line."
That's exactly what the Red Bulls did, defend. Besides the mistake on the Union goal, NYRB was able to keep the Union attack at bay. Philadelphia had some solid chances but were unable to finish,which ultimately doomed the Union despite another solid effort from the expansion team.
"If you don't convert your chances like that you struggle," said Union boss Peter Nowak. "We had chances, and the most important thing is to finish those chances. We have to work on it, it's simple as that."
The most obvious example of these missed chances came in the 4th minute when Sebastien LeToux made a beautiful run into the box, but was unable to convert the one timer off a Alejandro Moreno pass, hitting it right to Bouna Coundoul.
The Red Bulls also had a couple of quality chances, but they too were unable to finish. The best one came off a ball from Lindpere which sprung Angel one-on-one with Union keeper Chris Seitz. Angel, just like Le Toux earlier, hit the ball right at the keeper.
The first half ended scoreless and the Red Bulls came out much more confident to start the second half. After a miss by former Red Bull Nick Zimmerman, the Red Bulls marched down the field. Jeremy Hall played a gorgeous ball to the six-yard box, where the active Salou Ibrahim was able to nod it home for the 1-0 lead.
But after the goal, the Red Bulls packed it in and stopped attacking, allowing the Union to take the reigns.
"After the first goal, I think we just relaxed," said Salou Ibrahim. "I don't know if it was mental thinking that we had already won the game, which is very wrong for us to relax after the first goal."
"In a way we we just invited Philadelphia to score and suddenly they scored," said Backe.
The Union controlled the pace of the game for the next eight minutes and they were rewarded with the equalizer. Roy Miller was caught up field and Moreno found Le Toux on a late run for his fourth goal of the season.
"I knew he was going to cross the ball and I worked very hard," said LeToux of the goal. "I was on the second post and he gave it to me so I just had to tap it in."
"We gave the ball away and they turned and put it right back down our throat," said defender Tim Ream. "And when you give the ball and are out of position it's going to cost you."
The Union goal awoke the sleeping Red Bulls. New York started to play with some urgency and the winner would come just nine minutes later off a PK. After a bad clearance went sky high at the corner of the box, Michael Orozco handled it on the way down. It was a handball but an unlucky call for the Union, as Orozco didn't intentionally handle the ball.
"I think he lost me in the air, and then he basically used his arm, and unlucky for him it touched his arm right away," said Angel.
That luck would give NYRB the lead as the captain stepped up confidently and nailed the ball past a diving Seitz.
The teams went back and forth after the 67th minute goal by the skipper. But ultimately the Red Bulls would do enough for the 2-1 victory.
The Union played well enough to get a result, but in the end couldn't finish their chances.
"I got some chances in the first half and unfortunately, I missed at the beginning," said Le Toux. "We come back 0-0 at halftime, then we play well but we give a goal. We come back and after there is mistake, there was a handball in the box and we have to play so it's unfortunate and we're a little bit frustrated."
The Union have a chance for retribution on Tuesday night (8pm) in the Open Cup play-in game, once again at Red Bull Arena.
And as for the Red Bulls, they once again showed there is still room for improvement. Hans wants New York to be a team that can "dictate the game, control the game".
What did you think of the game? Do you think the Red Bulls deserved the win? Who were you impressed with Philly?
Share your thoughts below.
or how ’bout those New Jersey Nets, huh? they pull a good 10,000 on some nights
attendance makes the games entertaining to go to, but TV viewer make the money come in..its all in the works..
with that i said id also like to say that i watch every game that is at Red Bull Stadium. pretty jealous
+1 – and Orozco was fully aware that if he didn’t take drastic measures to stop the ball it would have fallen at Angel’s feet.
-says the man whose team is sponsored by an energy drink
Wanna know the secret about “The Jersey Shore”?
The cast is mostly from Staten Island:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Shore_%28TV_series%29#Ethnicity_of_cast_members
In fact only one cast member was actually from Jersey. For the next season they just did a casting call in . . . Long Island (aka Guidopolis).
Had a great time at last nights game. Good to see you again Ives. GREAT to se Mark Lisi involved with the MSG team. Lisi deserves a position in soccer hopefully somewhere in NJ.Hope we dont loose him somewhere out of state. One of the best soccer guys ever.
….and I mean climbing on a yearly basis, not game-by-game. That would be too short of a time period to judge.
The “our stadium is better than yours” shtick is sophomoric. It always seems like people revert to that when they are either unwilling or unable to analyze the game on a football level. Having said that, it’s a beautiful stadium and one you should be proud of. The section I was in (226) was a little weak though. Few of the fans seemed well informed and even fewer were into the game. It was a great result for NYRB but certainly not a great performance. The header from Ibrahim was against the run of play and the handball was very lucky (but undoubtedly correct). Angel is a donkey as someone above rightly pointed out. I don’t think he’s worth DP money at all. But Lindpere is certainly a piece to build on. Ibrahim couldn’t make a pass to save his life though. His crosses almost never found targets. You miss Kandji dearly.
I think the Union will prevail in October. Not because our stadium is prettier or our team name is less corporate or our fans will have wittier chants but because our team is better.
But thank you for receiving us well at Red Bull Arena. That place is seriously awesome and we had a great time. Looking forward to hosting ESC and other supporters in October…
I think Red Bull’s plan is to get people into the stadium, hence all the friendlies that have been planned. Bring in Juventus and you’ll get more Eurofans and Italians in. Ditto for Brazilian, Portuguese and the English teams coming. People aren’t going to come out of there and not want to come back – tons of new season ticket holders right away doesn’t seem to probable – until there’s a little more scarcity for the tickets. (Henry, etc.)
HAHAHA YES!!!! PHUCK PHILLY!
Stronger midfield through Lindpere and Ream in the back helps a lot. Also, better coach.
how would you do that?
cant wait to see Chinn, Tchani, and Garcia take a piece out of Philly’s A squad.
Not Ives, but here’s my recommendation. They are still advertising everywhere, including national television, but there is no reference to the next game or what is happening with the Red Bulls. Clearly they are trying to draw new fans, fans who don’t know or don’t care enough to check a schedule.
I would recommend that they end each commercial they are already paying for with an 3 second insert with the date and time of the next home game.
Also, they should switch some of the photos of players in public transportation hubs for schedules so people waiting on a train can wait while looking at the Red Bulls schedule.
If that wasn’t an intentional handball, I don’t know what is. Watch a replay. Orozco raises his arm when he realizes he won’t be able to stop the ball with his chest. Stupid play by him.
“plays the game right”
LOL.
Sore. LOSERS.
One flaw with all this: the NYRB numbers are terribly inflated. I’ve been to all of the games. No way there were 15,000 fans at RBA yesterday. I’d estimate 10,000 on an absolutely beautiful Saturday afternoon.
Incorrect. I watched a couple of replays of the game yesterday. Philly supporters were inaudible. Red Bull supporters made the game sound like it was being played in South America or Europe.
NY deserved the win. Nothing to be embarrassed about.
If RBNY beats DC on May 1, it will be their 5th win of the season. They won five all of last year.
Interestingly that 14 players are still on the team from the disaster of 2009. Yesterday, five of the starters were from the 2009 team. Three 2009 alumni came off the bench yesterdya to help RBNY win meaning eight members of the 2009 squad helpefd RBNY win yesterday.
Hmmm. Interesting. Same players, different results. Anyone have any ideas what could be different this year?
Can’t wait for another DP after the World Cup. I really want the NYRB to get a CONCACAF Champions League spot next year.
Angel and Le Toux played on the same level yesterday. Glad its costing us a DP salary for a forward that’s mediocre at best. Again Angel was invisible. It was great to see Salou’s work rate though. Good forwards that don’t get service at least work hard for the ball. They don’t stand around all game.
when your a fan, you dont care about attendance, thats the front offices job, i care about winning!!!
omg. your playing the “you have dp’s and we don’t” card?? get real!!! the bottom line is that NY WON….now lets see what happens tuesday in USOC. can’t wait to beat that a$$ in philly in october
by class, do you mean throwing up on 10 year old girls in the stands?
IVES,
What things would you recommend to the Red Bulls to increase public awareness/attendance? or is it just a time issue where, things will change over time?
….but addendance matters to the growth of the league, and its viability. Without a league, there are no results.
HA. Just like the Jersey Shore, you guys wouldn’t know class if it smacked you in the face. At least Philly plays the game right. And w/out any DP’s bankrupting our owners, w/ the youngest roster in the league, w/ a full stadium that we’ll have in our first season, not our 14th. “Hey, we’re named after a terrible energy drink!” You guys are the class of the league.
Le Toux should switch his name to Le Two, after the number of wins the Philadelphia Union will have this year.
On a side note, I’m glad the Union exist now. It will add a lot to the league by having DC United, Union, & NYRB (and to a lesser extent New England) all in the same area. And allow banter between fans
Here’s what I think:
The Union continue to play really good soccer. They’re easy to watch have good skill, but make me cringe knowing that a crucial mistake is just waiting to happen — then Orozblow sticks is arm out.
Orozco and Califf were supposed to be the anchors of the defense but they’re costing us games.
I think we make a playoff push late in the season.
Haters are always gonna hate, but what could you possibly say to a guy who looks like Rambo, pretty much, with his shirt off?
I was at the game, and the Philadelphia Supporters were tucked away nicely in section 7,652 so rest asured, nobody could hear them. You sound like a Philly apologist by saying things like “you were outplayed by little old us”. Give yourself more credit. And only losers talk about lucky results. Learn this quickly. The union were “lucky” to even have any shots on goal let alone a goal. Get ready to lose again next week against Donovan & Co. at the HDC.
We’ll take our 3 points and move on to RFK
+1
you’re lucky to get a team.
You should still be embarrassed that you were outplayed at your new half empty stadium by an expansion team. I’m pretty sure the Union fans were louder at Red Bull Stadium yesterday. And New York was lucky to get a win.
the only thing that matters is the final score. not shot on goal, not ATTENDANCE, its mother f’ing GOALS!!! PHILLY SCORED ONE ny scored TWO….new york’s chillin, jersey’s chillin….what more can i say??….PHUCK PHILLY!!!!
Philly stinks and New York rules. We proved that on the pitch last night. Ha ha ha!
Fine lets not compare it to Rangers, MSG, right next to the main transfer hub of the Big Apple, because they max out their seating(All 18,200 seats)…
Let’s compare it to the Devil’s maybe? A few blocks from newark penn station..
Avg Attendance 14,176′
Capacity 17,625 according to Wiki
Ha ha that’s all you can say? You agree PPL is ugly as sin…. ours maybe half full but it’s still best stadium in league and country. Oh yeah. WE WON.
When I was watching the game I couldn’t help but think that Philadelphia had some great service to the box. If they a better striker option then LaToux they would score a lot more. He can score but he is just not good enough when he gets the ball. Maybe one of the youngsters can step up and become that player or they may want to bring in a DP.
Their defense needs a lot of help, Orozco has no excuse for that handball, he wasn’t watching the ball at all.
As a neutral I’ve enjoyed the Philadelphia games so far.
have fun in your half empty stadium… and i’m sure it won’t take us 16+ years to win our first championship
I bet you are going to have a lot of fun with your half-assed cheers in that ugly stadium
probably less games than the red donkeys lost last year
Except the capacity for a rangers game is 18,200 at MSG. So they almost always have a full house. Cant really compare, especially with Red Bull stadium being so nice and easily accessible for the people from Jersey like myself.
yeah, failadelphia is gonna lose a lot of games this year
I agree, he was brave on the ball and looked older than he was. I’m looking and I’m liking!
Attendance was 15,619 This Game vs Union (Home Game)
Attendance was 13,667 Last week vs Dallas (Home Game)
Attendance was 12,597 Away vs Chivas (Home Depot Center)
Attendance was 36,066 Away vs Seattle
Attendance was 24,572 Home Opener vs Chicago
Average Home Attendance: 17,952
That’s not bad… That’s the same avg for a Rangers hockey game almost. MLS>NHL? Maybe not yet, but it is honest comparison.
http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance/_/year/2007
What’s going on with Chivas Home attendance.
Here is last year’s attendance.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/stats/attendance?league=usa.1&year=2009&cc=5901
Jack Mac has a bright future. Sure he missed that shot and went over the bar, but he put himself in places to make the play. Very good to see from a 17 YEAR OLD kid
Keep winning (and add a 2nd and 3rd DP)… they will come.
Ozorco is a retard for handballing that.
Hans has introduced European football to MLS.
I’m not at all surprised. They had the players last year, but it all starts on the practice pitch.
Bigger issue? Attendance. I could do a better job marketing these games.