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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woooo that was some way to break the schneid against new england..east champs baby!
With all the DP acquisitions, Richards and Lindpere were the Red Bulls best players in the second half of the season. Incredible win tonight and an AWESOME goal by Dane; Red Bulls dominated throughout. To all those b*tching about the attendance, you should’ve been there: crowd was great on a chilly night and the stadium filled as the game went on. WE’RE EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPS!!!!
LOL! No he’s not.
Ives can you please tell some of these ignorant people commenting that a Second NY team would actually be in NY and not NJ? they seem to not know that people in queens and Long Island almost never attend games and dont even follow the team that much. If a Second team comes to NY it will have nothing to with with this NJ Redbull team or its attendance.
Thanks, Ives, for the chance to attend tonight’s game. My son and I had a blast. Great to meet you at halftime. Keep up the good work.
And, dare I say it, Dane Richards has to be in that mix as well. The guy has been our only dangerous forward for two months.
Huh?
Thursday nights are tough. I made it to the game, but for the first time this season, my second ticket went unused. Only the diehards show up during the week.
Perhaps you should learn a bit about the protest towards the Front Office that led to some supporters not attending before you talk.
Eastern Conf. champs!!!!! Hells yeah!!!!
Thanks for providing commentary, Ives. Since I’ve moved to Nashville, I can’t follow the team live or on tv. What a turnaround from last season!
Do you understand that a stadium doesn’t magically transform a team?? They’re up about 50% from last year in attendance…what more do you want? People don’t follow a stadium; they follow a team and up to this point everything about this club has been tough on the supporter.
Just watch some Europa games from today. You have Europe Cup games in Italy–a soccer-mad country–also on a weekday and the stadium was mostly empty. Have some perspective.
This game definitely needed more Juan Agudelo and less Kennedy the Ref
Stop making excuses. They’re a playoff team with multiple DPs and a beautiful stadium in the largest market in the country. It’s not good.
with all the noise about the dp acqusitions, Lindpere is the mvp this year
Lindpere is fantastic.
I like Twellman.
And what the hell was Lalas blithering on about after the game?
Where are you from?
I know its a Thursday night game, but come on NY, that crowd is weak sauce. And they’re gonna add a second NY team? I know it will be in the city proper and thats supposed to mean big crowds, but that probably also means Red Bull will get a lot less…
nice goal to end the game. From their MVP IMHO. (Also not offside as far as I could see)
LOL @ Marquez too. Diver.
WOW! Perovic misses an open net set up by great moves by Joseph. Get your knee over the ball son!
LOL @ Perovic
Perovic is freaking useless. Terrible restart.
Holy crap does Lindpere have an engine
Tuned into this game right before the Richards goal. I am lucky because if I had missed that I would have missed the only watchable part of this game.
Once again a Kennedy match gets out of control… rough challenge no-call followed by an even rougher retribution foul. Kennedy is way out of his league, and by league I mean he belongs in AYSO 12-under, actually 10-under I don’t think he can handle 12 year olds.
Following from Minnesota, only still putting up with this game in the hope I might get to see what Agudelo can do
Following from LA, at work…
Not following too closely but am following from San Jose
Who do you think is the League’s MVP?
Not in Seattle they don’t. Its pathetic when half of a brand new stadium is empty in a nationally televised game for a team heading to the playoffs in one week.
Folowing, Wooster, Ohio… where is Agudelo?
midweek games always have less attendance. in other news the sky is also blue.
For real… give a second team to Seattle or a city like Miami, San Diego, Montreal, Baltimore
The Revs have good attacking players (Joseph, Perovic, Stolica, Nyassi) but need a DP and new defenders (worst defense in the league) to be a playoff contender. The only reason he probably has them at 8th is because they’ve been playing well since they were eliminated..
Kennedy is making disgraceful calls again. He needs to be fired asap. As stat-nerds would say, he is a “below replacement-level” referee.
Tastes like something I haven’t tasted since 2000
If you have Galavision, free cable, you can watch CLB vs. Joe Public in CLC action during the half. 1 – 1.
They should be named The Staten Island Fuggedaboutits
What is the deal with all of the empty seats? Garber wants to give NY a second team? They can’t even support the team they have already. What a joke.
That could have very easily been a red card, what a terribly reckless challenge.
I don’t think NE understands what FASTbreak means.
It is. I read an article/blog post somewhere this season that stated that the NYRB are essentially suffering Laker Syndrome. The sideline season ticket areas are sold out, but no one shows. It was a status symbol to have the tickets. I wonder if there’s any precedent for any sports team anywhere to recall tickets from patrons that don’t use them?
Jamaica already had that thought…and he has rewarded them with 2 international goals in the past few months.
Ah, well, nobody’s perfect.
I know it’s not the most important game, but sad to see RBA so empty.
Richards is Jamaican. And has been capped. many times.
Is it time for a Dane Richards callup? Anyone? Anyone?
That was a terrific shot. The announcers said the CB needed to close him down, but I don’t blame him for his positioning that far out. It’s almost impossible to hit that corner from out there with a goalie and CB in front of you.
wow, what an amazing goal from Dane Richards…
I hope Agudelo plays today. He was really unlucky not to score against the Union.
costigan has the revs at number 8 in mls power rankings. thoughts? i think it’s too high