The New York Red Bulls close out their regular season tonight with a chance to clinch the regular season Eastern Conference title with a win against the New England Revolution (7:30pm, ESPN2).
The Red Bulls clinch with a victory, but beating the Revs has never been easy for New York, which hasn't beaten New England in 15 straight matches. The current Red Bulls squad will have no excuses though, not against a struggling New England side that is playing out the string.
I will be providing commentary throughout the evening so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Tonight's commentary is after the jump):
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FINAL– A great scene after the match, with the Red Bulls walking around Red Bull Arena thanking their fans. This is a special moment for those players who endured the nightmare that was the 2009 season.
That's all for me. Thanks for following along and please feel free to share your post-game thoughts in the comments section below. Good night.
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FINAL– Red Bulls 2, Revolution 0. The Red Bulls lock up the regular season Eastern Conference title and the No. 1 seed in the East playoffs. Let the celebration begin.
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94th Minute– The Red Bulls complete the most unlikely of climbs from worst in the East in 2009 to first in the East in 2010. They did the same thing (sort of) in 99-2000.
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92nd Minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!! And it's Joel Lindpere, providing the finishing touches on a conference title. This one is over. Red Bulls 2, Revs 0.
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91st Minute– Five minutes of stoppage time. FIVE. IT's settled. Michael Kennedy may be drunk.
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90th Minute– The Red Bulls are closing in on an Eastern Conference title. Can't be long now.
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88th Minute– Tony Tchani is on for Marquez, who had to come off because he couldn't be risked. Wonder if Angel will get subbed off. I'm betting the Red Bulls fans would love a chance to cheer him off.
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87th Minute– Marquez getsayellow for a foul on Mansally. That wasn't payback at all for the head kick. It's Marquez, he wouldn't do that. (sarcasm alert).
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85th Minute– Ibrahim charges in on goal but can't get past Darrius Barnes. And why isn't Agudelo isn't in this match?
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83rd Minute– Marquez gets kicked in the head on a bicycle kick attempt by Mansally. He's still down. Backe needs to sub him out ASAP.
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80th Minute– Pat Phelan comes in for Osei. Revs shifting to a 3-5-2
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76th Minute– Zack Schilawski is coming in for Stolica.
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73rd Minute– A very soft yellow card on Jeremy Hall. Referee Michael Kennedy is having a shocker tonight. Can he be thinking about his vacation as well?
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71st Minute– Kenny Mansally gets a yellow card after taking down Dane Richards AND Jeremy Hall in consecutive challenges. Richards is still down.
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69th Minute– Ballouchy sends the corner wide on a near-post run. Not a great shot by him.
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69th Minute– Red Bulls corner.
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67th Minute– Lindpere with a nice hard foul on Mansally. Those two have had words all game. I can see them fighting at some point.
Ream does very well to hold off Stolica, who was bearing down on goal. Solid night for the rookie (of the year).
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65th Minute– Angel is down after a brutally clumsy challenge from Jason Griffiths. He gets a yellow and is lucky he didn't get a red card.
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65th Minute– If you're following along with the commentary (and bless you if you still are) let me know in the comments section, and let me know where you're following from.
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61st Minute– Ballouchy misses wide with a good look from 25 off a nice pass from Marquez. The Red Bulls are trying to build up in their attack, but it's just not coming off right now.
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58th Minute– Jeremy Hall commits a foul on Mansally. He's held up pretty well tonight.
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55th Minute– You know what this game needs? Some Juan Agudelo.
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54th Minute– Neither team is really taking control of this game. It looks like New England can't wait for the off-season and the Red Bulls are trying to avoid injury.
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52nd Minute– On second thought, Juan Pablo Angel was so clutch in the first half of the season that I have to give him the MVP nod, and give Lindpere the Newcomer of the Year award.
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50th Minute– The Red Bulls are handing out Red Bulls team award ballots. MVP, Defender of the Year and Newcomer of the Year. I have to go with Joel Lindpere, Tim Ream and Joel Lindpere.
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48th Minute– Bouna Coundoul spills a corner kick but gets bailed out. Wow, that was bad. He can't make those mistakes come playoff time.
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47th Minute– We're back. Who's got the coffee?
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HALFTIME– Red Bulls 1, Revolution 0. Dane Richards' blast is the difference in a pretty drab game.
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44th Minute– New England still struggling to create much. Nothing to play for and it shows.
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41st Minute– Marquez is back and Hans Backe can breath again.
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40th Minute– What a devastating blow this would be if Marquez were seriously injured tonight in his last regular season game. He's up now and limping it off.
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39th Minute– Shalrie Joseph with a hard foul from behind on Rafa Marquez. He gets a yellow for his trouble and Marquez is still down.
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36th Minute-Apologies for the lack of comments. There's not a ton going on. I'll try to step it up.
How about a drinking game? I know I haven't done those in a while. Drink for every offside trap and every Bouna Coundoul that doesn't reach midfield. That's a start.
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34th Minute– Joseph gets caught offside, thwarting a nice build-up from New England. The Revs have had a rough year, but they can score goals.
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29th Minute– You get the feeling Angel is goin to score one tonight.
Ibrahim nearly does, but his toe-poke goes just wide.
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27th Minute– Tchani with a sweet dribble move to get into the area, but his shot is blocked, Lindpere follows to earn a corner.
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21st Minute– Richards gets a clear look from almost the identical spot, but sends it into the stands.
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20th Minute– Richards has give goals this season and I think all five are from the same general area, the top left edge of the penalty area.
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17th Minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!!! And it's Dane Richards with the lengthy run and powerful finish off a great pass from Juan Pablo Angel. Red Bulls 1, Revs 0.
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16th Minute– Shalrie Joseph just stripped Marquez with relative ease. People don't realize just how strong he is.
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12th Minute– Tim Ream with a nice tackle on Mansally, who's speed didn't trouble him. Ream is playing at a high level now after overcoming a bit of a rookie wall during the summer.
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11th Minute– Red Bulls starting to take control. They wasted a corner kick, but are keeping possession in the attacking end for a decent spell.
New England is sitting back early on.
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5th Minute– Slow start to this one. Still in a feeling out period. New York has to be wary of Marco Perovic, one of the few bright spots for New England this year.
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2nd Minute– For those who haven't seen it, here is my Fox Soccer piece on Juan Pablo Angel's status with the Red Bulls. In short, he deserves much better.
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1st Minute-And we're off on a chilly night in Harrison.
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PRE-GAME– It looks like a full moon out tonight. Could we be in for some weirdness?
Tony Tchani is on the bench today, with Salou Ibrahim getting the nod tonight in a 4-4-2.
The key for New York tonight will be Dane Richards and his match-up against Chris Tierney.
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PRE-GAME– How long has it been since the last time New York beat New England? Try 2005.
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PRE-GAME– The one interesting lineup move for the Red Bulls is Jeremy Hall getting the start at right back. The 2009 first-round pick has had a rough season, battling injuries and lack of playing time. His start may just be to give Chris Albright a rest, but it will also allow Hall a chance to show he deserves a place on the team in 2011.
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PRE-GAME– Here are the lineups:
RED BULLS
———–Angel——–Ibrahim————-
Lindpere——-Ballouchy————Richards
——————-Marquez———————
Miller——-Ream——-Mendes——–Hall
——————–Coundoul——————
REVOLUTION
————Perovic—–Stolica—————-
Mansally—–Griffiths—Joseph——Nyassi
Tierney—–Gibbs——–Barnes——-Osei
——————Shuttlesworth—————
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Okay “Emerald_City_Jason”. (Not sure what the quotation marks signify). Did I personally attack you? Why go with the “shame on you” response instead of actually engaging in a conversation about it?
I never argued that a half empty stadium on TV was good for MLS. Did you really think that was my argument? SO let’s accept that as a given and move onto the real issues.
My argument is that the reasons for the attendance are very well established and *absolutely* nothing that could be dissolved in one year–in any market. This is a team that’s never won anything, has had a home in a terrible place, lost supporters when security goons went wild in Giants Stadium over the years, went through a re-branding period, and has had zero connection with the community and terrible reputation. How do you not get that?
Things have improved by 50% from last year…what more do you want? And things will get better the next year and year after that. What is the exact point of talking about it further?
The point of bringing up other countries’ leagues is that even soccer-mad cities have even worse attendance for very valid reasons just like RBNY has in the past.
Do not preach to me about expecting more of this sport. I expect this league to be one of the best in the world in a few decades. Don’t make assumptions about what I’ve done to help this league grow. Good day.
And by the way, Scott A, you haven’t done a damn thing to explain why a half empty stadium on national tv is a good thing for any league. Because, guess what, it’s not.
As a league we should be well past the point where moving the attendance scale from an F- to a C- is considered a success. Shame on you. Expect more of your sport and your league. And for f*cks sake don’t sing me a song about attendance for a soccer league in Albania. We’re not competing with Albanian or French or Italian soccer leagues. We’re competing for a share of the American sports’ market, which has absolutely freaking nothing to do with the sports market in other countries. How do you not get that?
Cite one thing I’ve posted that’s misinformed, “Scott A.”
Responding to incessant and misinformed posts isn’t thin-skinned; it’s correcting incessant and misinformed posts.
You’re not the best at debate, are you? Review the thread, dude. I made like one initial comment and one or two comments in support of people who said pretty much the same thing I did. Everything else is just responding to terribly thin-skinned folks who for some reason feel the need to rip into anyone observing the plainly obvious fact that last night’s attendance was less than ideal.
I didn’t comment on the match because I didn’t find it a particularly compelling contest and after the Dane Richards goal only kept an eye on it while getting some work done. Again: You, dictionary, obsession. Get going.
Yes, the fact that you had to comment on it over and over again in a thread pretty much constitutes an obsession.
Did you post one thought about the actual match? I didn’t think so.
Go buy a dictionary. A handful of comments about attendance during and after the ESPN game of the week ain’t an obsession.
And your obsession with Red Bull’s attendance is also a little sad, but cute.
You have no idea who I’ve supported or for how long, GSScasual, but it has nothing to do with any of my points. It’s cute, though, that you can’t get over where I happen to live or who I happen to support. A little sad, but cute.
The only joke is when fans of a league that’s barely been around 15 years try to lay claim to some sort of old-school legitimacy. Now that is LOL.
Why the lazy insults? All I did was point out that attendance wasn’t what it should have been last night. Anyone in the RBNY or MLS front office would tell you the same thing.
And I paid for my Sounders scarf with my hard-earned money, thanks very much.
Sinovic isn’t fast enough, which is a bigger problem than the lack of experience. If you are going to play someone like that back there, that’s fine, but better it’s Tierney (who gave some really great service last night). Gibbs still shows flashes of genuine quality on tackling and in the air, and good poise. His positioning somehow still is rusty; it’s odd to talk about potential with someone his age, but I think if he gets into good form he would be formidable. Barnes looks every bit like he will grow into the vintage Gibbs or better. Alston needs to get healthy and make more progress in his third year.
With the right additions, New England could be a good to very good team next year.
Where did I mention Seattle?
No, not OK. I keep a close eye on league-wide attendance, and what NY has done on weekends doesn’t change the fact that there were too many empty seats last night on national television.
My comments have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I currently live in Seattle—I’m speaking as a fan of the league and the sport, not as a Sounders fan. There’s nothing “holier than thou” about pointing out that last night’s attendance isn’t exactly the image a league on the rise wants to convey. Everyone gets that it was a midweek game: stop pretending that explaining the situation excuses the situation. And stop being so knee-jerk defensive.
Where was GSS before 2005?
I’m an avid Red Bulls fan, but for a Thursday night game, 2 hours of travel each way wasn’t in the cards. Has no one else mentioned that it was against the NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION? Even other commenters have said that besides Dane Richards goal at the beginning and Lindpere’s at the end the match wasn’t great to watch.
I think they need to work out the situation in front of the stadium, which I gather they don’t currently control, and do something to dramatically improve the parking situation. As amazing as RBA is by itself, leaving it on a chilly night to venture through an abandoned wasteland to find your car isn’t much fun, and PATH is great only if you are coming in from Manhattan.
Empty seats perhaps, but most of the seats were sold, just some no-shows. Maybe NYRB should look into better ways to exchange/sell/donate already purchased tickets next season. From Ives’ ticket giveaway yesterday, it seems like there are plenty of fans interested in going.
Every time I leave the Estonian flag home, Joel scores. Perhaps I should leave it home for the playoffs.
Wondo!
You’re right. Seattle is the best. No need to even talk about attendance anymore.
It’s a broken record and not very interesting at this point. The reasons why RB Arena is not sold out match after match has been discussed ad nauseum. At this point, those who still say refuse to accept the reasons are never going to accept ti. So why bother?
I was there, as usual. I had a great time. I don’t care how many people show up in Seattle, Houston, Toronto, etc.
Should be an interesting offseason for the Revs. Perovic and Stolica were quality additions. Releasing Jankauskas frees up some good cap space. It would be good for the team to stay healthy and settle into a consistent lineup. I like Alston, Gibbs, and Barnes, not sure if Sinovic is good enough yet, I don’t like Osei in there. Where do you best play Perovic? – left wing, forward, or attacking center mid? I think with Schilawski and Stolica, fit him into wide or center mid. I think we need to get better than Nyassi on the right and Khano or whoever on the left. Oh yeah, and even though Twellman is/was my favorite player, they need to make a decision on that $400k we’re using against the cap for him, if he’s ever going to play again (doutbful at this point). That’s a big chunk of money they could use for a badly needed impact player. Congrads to the Red Bulls on their turnaround.
Emeraldcity whatever has been a die hard fan of seattle since WAYYYYYYYYY back in …. 2009. LOL seattle is a joke
hey emerald, where was your support before 2009? I believe that you could count your supporters on your fingers. Im sorry but free scarves and cowardly refunds dont result in diehard fans, they result in aloof and spiritless fans, such as yourself.
Bro, the “holier than thou” act by Seattle fans is really getting old… Your whole city shows up to Sounders matches because they have nothing better to do with their time. New York City, unlike Seattle, actually has OTHER options for people to do on a Thursday night. In Seattle, I get to choose between Starbucks, Starbucks, Seattle Storm, or Sounders…
Why don’t you have a look at the attendance numbers for the last couple of weekend matches before you open your mouth about a mid-weeker — OK?
Joel Lindpere is the MVP of this team. It makes sense that he opened AND closed the season with goals. The Estonian Express has been outstanding.
And how can anyone not vote for Tim Ream for Rookie of the Year? He played every minute of the season and was the most consistently solid defender out there.
Worst to first – this is a good feeling.
Before Henry, before Marquez, Backe and Soler and Williams had already effected a complete change in the culture and atmosphere of this club. So much for the “foreign guys can’t succeed in MLS” school of thought. From pickups like the super-energetic Lindpere (remember when people asked “who’s he?” ?) to drafting Ream and Tchani, to giving the team a purpose and a spirit, those guys from Scandinavia, with help from the underappreciated Williams, have performed a miracle. The pressure on this group was tremendous — can you imagine what a disaster another losing season would have been in the inaugural season of the new stadium? — and they responded like champions. Casual observers — heck, even Grant Wahl — may attribute the turnaround to Henry, but the first half of the season showed that even before the new DPs showed up, RBNY was a solid, talented, well organized team. The astute additions of the the right kinds of DPs has only made things even better. Gratulerer, Hans og Erik og Richie og RBNY!
Waaaaah, attendance. Waaaah, brand new stadium and RB can’t fill it up. Waaaah.
Eastern Conference champs, baby! What a fun night last night!
Scott is 100% correct. A 50% increase over last year is massive. In the face of 15 years of mostly failure, it’s an impressive accomplishment. You have to understand that most of the people in this area consider the Red Bulls a joke because they’ve been pathetic for most of their history. And the fact of the matter is that teams get a big attendance bump in the year AFTER a successful season that follows many unsuccessful ones.
The NY region is awash in Yankee fever right now. The Red Bulls are competing with post- season baseball, 2 NFL teams, 3 NHL teams and 2 pre- season NBA teams. The team is never featured on the local newscasts. It’s a tough market. I agree that I don’t see us with another team.
Who cares about other countries? That’s completely irrelevant. As a sports league you judge yourself against other sports leagues in your own country.
Oh please, the supporters constitute a small fraction RBA capacity, and they hold no spell over the rest of region that kept average New Yorkers from attending.
Where did I claim that a stadium “magically transforms” anything? The stadium was *one* element I pointed out, along with the fact that they’re a playoff team featuring multiple DPs in a metropolitan area containing 19 million souls. Tonight was a piss-poor showing, any way you cut it. If you think either RBNY or MLS was happy to see that many empty seats in their self-described “soccer palace” on national television you’re crazy. Again: not good.
By that logic we could put a second team in Denver because the Rapids are in Commerce City. Second team in Dallas because FC Dallas is in Frisco. RSL in Sandy. Fire in Bridgeview. You get the idea.
IT’S THE SAME METRO AREA. I live here, it’s not hard to go from Queens to Harrison, you can do it all on public transport. People that won’t go to Harrison to see Henry and Marquez won’t be suddenly getting season tickets in Flushing. Get some perspective.
Poor? Look at some league attendance numbers in countries where soccer is the #1 sport by far. Way below 19k. Please.
Way to go Red Bulls now go and bring home the MLS Cup and really show the biggest turn around in league history. Worst team in the league to the best. GO RED BULLS!!!
notice i said queens and Long Island ? those places are far from RBA and when i live in queens i only went to Giant stadium once or twice a year. i followed from tv and most of my friends didn’t even care about the team cause they couldn’t go to games. NY is the most populated area on the east coast, if they build stadium in LIC and bring in some good players, that place would be packed. I’m from a Brasilian Neighborhood in queens many people would go to games if the stadium was close by.
Ives, any news on Angel and Miller about to throw down out there tonight? They had a very heated exchange, and they almost came to blows and had to be seperated. Surprised the hell out of me to see that…
There were some groups that didn’t attend or walked out of the match because of pending issues with bans by the Front Office.
This is why I never condemn supporters for lack of attendance; you never know what other things are going on.
I was there, and it was pretty empty…but it was still a great vibe.
People on here must be drinking the Kool-aid….. outsiders simply don’t get how big our metro area is and how far away a stadium in Queens would be from RBA…… Second NY team would so be pulling from a different set of people, so Ives I second Kawandinho’s suggestion…. people not from here just dont get it…
drew…. who do you support…. NY brings in about 19k a game… thats damn good
So your’re saying that noone from New York attends “NJ” redbull games and that it will have no effect on filling an already poorly attended red bull arena? please…
Ouch