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Red Bulls roll past Toronto FC

RedBullsCelebrate (Reuters)

Toronto FC hadn't lost a home MLS match in more than a year, a span of 17 matches, but the New York Red Bulls put an end to that dominance with their best performance of the year.

Bolstered by Rafa Marquez's first MLS goal, and some costly errors by Toronto, the Red Bulls captured a 4-1 victory against TFC  on Saturday afternoon.

The Red Bulls opened the scoring on a 30-year blast from Marquez, who also helped set up New York's second goal when he sent a dangerous free kick at the TFC goal that Toronto midfielder Joseph Nane accidentally re-directed into his own net.

Toronto had some hope early in the second half on a Dwayne DeRosario goal, but when Juan Pablo Angel converted a penalty kick earned on an intentional handball in the penalty area by Nana Attakora (who was red-carded in the process), the Red Bulls were in completely control.

The victory, the Red Bulls' tenth of the season,  pushed New York eight points clear of Toronto for second place in the East, and also helped the team double its win total in 2009 (a franchise-worst five).

Here are the match highlights:

Former TFC standout Carl Robinson came on as a second-half substitute for New York, receiving an impressive round of applause from the Toronto faithful. Robinson wound up scoring New York's fourth goal, heading home a Dane Richards cross, but the Welsh midfielder refused to celebrate out of respect for his former fans.

While Marquez did score his first MLS goal, Thierry Henry once again failed to find the net. Henry had a few good looks, but couldn't put any past Stefan Frei before coming off for Salou Ibrahim with the Red Bulls leading 3-1.

One player who did impress was rookie Tony Tchani, a commanding presence in central midfield all day long. Dane Richards also caused problems for the TFC defense, while Marquez improved considerably on his flat performance against Los Angeles last week.

For Toronto, the loss was a painful one, not only because of the playoff implications, but because it cooled some of the momentum the club was feeling following last week's CONCACAF Champions League victory against Cruz Azul. Now TFC will have an even tougher time in the race for the playoffs, with San Jose winning on Saturday and Chicago lingering with several games in hand.

New York doesn't look to have such concerns. The Red Bulls have an eight-point cushion on an automatic playoff berth and have yet to see their newly-acquired Designated Players play their best yet.

Comments

  1. Their is a good Chance Angel would have missed too, just like he’s been doing since the Chicago game . Dane can take shots too Angel does not deserve every ball .

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  2. Hey genius, what the hell are you talking about? There was a play early in the game were Richards had Angel open for a sure goal but Richards decided to take the shot. Who would’nt be “disgusted” after Dane continually makes poor decisions with the ball at his feet. Shoots when he should pass and passes when he should shoot. And by the way JPA has 60 goals since 2007 including 12 this season. How long have you been following this club?

    Also by the way the stadium filled up quite nicely as the match progressed. Maybe you should pay attention.

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  3. I was down on Tchani when I first saw him play in USOC games. Skilled, athletic, but too greedy.

    He’s not that way now! He’s playing really well.

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  4. The Dr. speaks the Truth. Rafa looked awesome and will continue looking better as time goes by. He is only been here for a couple of weeks.

    It is also true that is time for Angel to retire. He’s always pissed when the ball is not given to him, but then he can only score on PK. Rumor is that next year contract will NOT be as designated player.

    HC

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  5. Agreed. He’s shown a massive improvement from the game against the Galaxy. One must keep in mind that he has been only 2 weeks here. Playing in new country, new teammates, new system, etc, etc. Marquez is setting the standard of quality in the MLS.

    The entire football community in the US is much better off thanks to Rafa.

    HC

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  6. i think marquez will be the highest quality player who has ever played in this league when it is all said and done. his touch is unlike anything this league has seen. and thats coming from a usa fan who hates him. lol.

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  7. Exactly why I didn’t even bother with this guy. Anyone who can’t see Angel’s quality is an idiot and obviously knows nothing of the game.

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  8. I thought you’d be interested Ives…Shep Messing said “Central Attacking Midfielder” during the game

    (SBI-I heard him say “central playmaker”, didn’t hear him use the dreaded CAM reference. Still hate it.)

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  9. Thoughts on the game:
    1) NY has three great defensive midfielders (Tchani, Raga, and Robinson), but still lacks leadership behind the strikers.
    2) Henry is in a psychological slump. He keeps getting himself into great scoring positions, but he’s squandering his chances. His only block is a mental one at the moment, and he should overcome it soon.
    3) JPA should have given the PK to Henry, so that the latter can overcome the aforementioned hurdle.
    4) I agree that Albright is weak offensively, and his lobs into the box become predictable, but NY’s defensive has been pretty solid all season. Only Columbus has given up fewer goals in the Eastern Conference.

    My opinion: Play Lindpere in the center and push Tchani or Stammler to the wings. Keep Kandji on the bench for the time being.

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  10. “but if TFC managed to put away one or two of their chances in the first 30 minutes than I think we have a different outcome. ”

    Agreed.

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  11. The atmosphere was light because of the circus (The Ex) was in town causing massive delays with public transport and parking problems.

    As for the game, yes the scoreline is certainly flattering to NYRB, but if TFC managed to put away one or two of their chances in the first 30 minutes than I think we have a different outcome. TFC hit the post and Candoul made some phenomenal saves in the first 30. In reality if the game was 11 on 11, it would of been much closer. I understand the pro-NYRB and American bias but the red card changed the game.

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  12. “You ‘hate his disgusting attitude’? Why, because he cares too much?”

    Shooting down teammates with disappointing facial expressions and gestures after missed opportunities. It seems as though Angel is quick to blame, but does little to pick up the game of others around him.

    “What kind of fan are you?”

    The kind of fan that looks at the team through reality goggles, instead of how I wish the team to be.

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  13. Uh, Red Bull didn’t want to force feed the position to Hall because they didn’t like Albright. Albright was injured. As soon as he became fit, he earned the position. That is all.

    As for going forward, if you were playing behind Dane Richards, you’d be cautious going forward too.

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  14. Haha, the Kurt Vonnegut perspective, eh? See, the “Truth” induced doubt, because it seems more like a Ph.D. thing, you know, philosophy and all.

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  15. Man, Albright is brutal to watch. I know people will defend him, and really, I’m engaging in a bit of hyperbole. He just really doesn’t have ideas going forward and occasionally reminds me of a linebacker more than a rightback. You certainly understand why Red Bull wanted to force feed the position to Hall.

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  16. Marques looked awesome in this game. I remember one mistake (turnover) and he made up for it right away by regaining possession. He looked calm, cool and his strike was deadly. The whole team looked pretty good, except for Angel.

    He is perpetually offsides (can’t blame the refs every game; Angel leads the league in being called offsides, by a ton), and he turns the ball over nearly everytime he touches it. I hate his disgusting attitude, and would rather see dane take a shot from “his spot” (see fc santos and barclay challenge) than give the ball up to Angel. How many PK’s does Angel have this year? lol @ his waning talent.

    I thought the crowd looked a bit light at BMO, i’m used to seeing that place packed and going crazy, does anyone have any insight as to why the atmosphere was a more subdued this afternoon?

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  17. Can’t count on a playoff berth yet for RBNY. Our competition for the 2nd spot in the East probably isn’t TFC. It’s Chicago . . .

    Reply

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