The New York Red Bulls are starting to grow accustomed to two things, one painfully annoying, and one a welcome relief.
The Red Bulls once again watched their goalkeeper commit a goal-allowing blunder, but once again watched Joel Lindpere step up and help his team find a result.
Bouna Coundoul spilled a cross in the penalty area to help give San Jose it's first goal of the night, and after Steven Lenhart headed home a goal to make it 2-1, things looked bleak for the Red Bulls. That was before Lindpere blasted a goal-bound shot that was re-directed past San Jose goalkeeper Jon Busch to help New York earn a 2-2 tie against the Earthquakes at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto.
Lindpere opened the scoring for New York with a seventh-minute strike to get the short-handed Red Bulls off to a strong start. Missing Thierry Henry (illness) and Rafa Marquez and Luke Rodgers (injuries), the Red Bulls started the match well and nearly took a 2-0 lead in the first half, but San Jose kept fighting and pounced on Coundoul's blunder in the 37th minute as Khari Stephenson converted Coundoul's spill to make the score 1-1.
Steven Lenhart gave San Jose a 2-1 lead in the 68th minute when he headed home a perfect Steve Beitashour cross, beating Tim Ream on the play. The Earthquakes were the stronger team in the second half and looked set to score a home win before Lindpere blasted a goal-bound shot that Earthquake defenders re-directed past Jon Busch in the 85th minute.
The draw will be a disappointing one for a New York side that has managed just one win in eleven matches (1-2-9), particularly given another case of the team being done in by a goalkeeper error.
The match was a contentious one as the teams were involved in multiple shoving matches, and Earthquakes defender Bobby Burling saw a red card late in the match for a second bookable offense. New York couldn't capitalize on the man advantage late, and was forced to settle for yet another draw.
The tie kept the Red Bulls (5-3-10) three points behind Philadelphia at the top of the Eastern Conference, while the Earthquakes moved to 5-5-6 on the season.
What did you think of the match? Impressed with Lindpere's play? Disgusted with the Red Bulls' goalkeeping woes? Do you love or hate Steven Lenhart's off-the-ball antics?
Share your thoughts below.
Someone needs to write Joel Lindpere a check. A big one.
Help wanted: Need a GK. Must be able to make decisions., stop shots. Kicking a ball is a plus, positioning is key.
Send resume to solerandbacke @ rba.com We are an equal opportunity employer…signed RBNY.
If you mean a team that can’t finish and lacks leadership on the field…despite a huge budget compared to it’s opponents….I guess I could also complement “Backe’s style.” Can’t say I’m thrilled that we essentially traded Tchani, a 1st round pick, and DeRo for Dax. Style might not be the right word.
good riddance we don’t want eurosnobs
Glad I went to the game. My boss got us all luxury suit tickets. Great view from there, they had free food in there. And I got to meet Marcello Balboa and Cobi Jones. They don’t serve alcohol at Stanford! But I guess that is because it is a college campus. The game was good, and I know a lot of people were there to see Henry and Marquez, but they didn’t even play. San Jose could use another play maker, and NY really needs a new keeper.
You act like NY wasn’t fouling. Also, in that second half SJ really pushed the game and had much more the ball. I wouldn’t call them hacks, they are just very aggressive. Especially Hernandez, that guy comes in hard.
National team player. Subject to allocation. Might be able to avoid it with a dp deal, no one’s ever tried.
lenhart sucks
A few thoughts:
It’s sometimes frustrating to watch RBNY. Richards negated his speed by forgetting that he needed to keep the ball on the dribble. Too many extra passes in/around the 18. Agudelo still has a lot to learn. His upside is great though. Ream is good, but young–We need to be patient with his development. I have a feeling that when he peaks, he’ll be one of the best US backs ever.
At the end of the game, I thought Burling received Karmic justice with the own goal and red card after the crap shoulder to chest foul on Agudelo.
I don’t disagree, he may never be more than a player you can ocasionally use at CONCAAF level. But he is only 25, I’d give him a shot in some relatively meaningless game (hello, we took Robbie Findley to South Africa
I’ve now watched San Jose the past two weeks now and they are a disgrace to themselves and the league! They are everything the MLS is trying to shake the reputation of. They don’t play the beautiful game but rather are a bunch of hacks that try to bully and intimidate the other oponent. Their game is akin to a mid table SPL team 15 years ago.
They don’t even make an effort to play the ball on fouls. The refs apparrently figure they can’t call everything or there would be no players on the field. If I was a foreign player considering coming to MLS and saw this – I’d pass in a heartbeat.
If these guys were playing with a Spanish referee or the like, they would end the game with 3 players! As I already said DISGRACE!!
The play seemed overly rough and sloppy. I thought SJ players could have been sent off a few times. It really shows MLS in a bad light. It’s boring watching players get hacked down for trying to make two touches. What do other people think? Ref could have kept it tighter, right?
Just a thought, how about getting Marcus Hahnemann? He would definitely be a huge upgrade over Coundoul or Sutton. However, NYRB would need to fork some money to get him, not necessarily DP money but at least a decent offer for MH to consider going to the Big Apple.
They had a great deal available to fans. For $45, you got 2 tickets in the midfield and a $15 voucher for food through Yelp! I was at the game and made the following observations:
Wasn’t worth it without Henry
Never knew 41,000 people could be that quiet
Product on the field did not deserve an audience that big
Ream and Agudelo played poorly
I understand now why people don’t like MLS.
I’d pay to see DC United because I would like to see CD9 and De Rosario, but can’t imagine paying to see another MLS match like last night (even with 4 goals). My French buddy left at halftime because he said the play was too slow and depressing.
Agreed!
He would have carded himself out of the game
As impressive as goldilocks is I can’t help but think that in a more disciplined and skilled league the game would pretty much pass him by. Yes he is an agitator and good in the air, but true international players need to be so much more multidimensional than that.
Having said that I could see him making a contribution on the CONCACAF level, since he essentially plays against those guys week in and week out.
Okay, four things… And I meant Backe…
One of the hardest things to do with a keeper is know when you should stick with him and when you need to find a solution elsewhere. As a union fan I can tell you this was tough to watch last year.
Also, as a union fan, I am ALL FOR Bracket continuing to give his keepers time to sort their mess out!
Seriously though, every championship team needs one thing; a keeper, center back midfielder and attacking player capable of assuming the captain band through the dependability of their performance. Just ask Arsenal.
No kidding. NY bossed the first half and then Bouna spills that junk to let the Quakes back in the game. Lindpere was already frustrated before the game, you could see that he was so pissed after the first goal.
In addition, the NYRB need to get a killer instinct. How many times do they play well in the first half, then just diminish intensity in the second half (or in stoppage time, or on corner kicks, etc…) to let the other team tie or get back in the game. Focus is needed. Get the first, then get the second and kill off the game, instead of being content to sit on a 1-0 lead.
NY better get a goalkeeper soon. An average keeper would have them easily top of the table.
and by pat on the bat, I mean pat on the back.
… well Henry is a great draw, except he didn’t play. Let’s not give the marketing division a pat on the bat until they draw that many without a major star to piggy back off of.
I would have liked to have had Lenhart for the Mexico game. Just to provoke Mexico into a red card. It would have helped a lot.
Most Red Bull games are fun to watch…I have to give credit to Backe’s style
No, he is still slow as molasses. This was his best game of the year though.
Not really…similar players that are pest for defenses to stop all game. You love them when they are on your team, but they are a pain for you when you oppose them.
+1
The GK situation is officially ridiculous. How many points does RB need to drop before something is done? At this point, Alex Horwath is probably less likely to make mistakes than Bouna or Sutton. The FO better act soon or else Lindpere might blow a gasket. NY’s point total does not reflect how well they’ve played this year.
by the by, we were fighting with Norwegian team for his labor, and this has been the return, yet the focus continues to be on ancient names instead of quality.
I agree about Backe establishing no continuity in the GK position.
Lindpere is how a DP should play and he isn’t even that kind of money, as rated by MLS.
pretty comical when the commentators compared Lenhart with El Pescadito….
I was at the stadium, it was a great crowd. A few people spent entirely too much time going between their seats and the conscession stands, but what are you going to do:)
A very entertaining game, too, despite the absence of several big names. Aside from his ability to score in the air, Steven Lenhart is very good at winning the long balls and passing them to team mates for a quick attack. A bit out of control at times. But still, I wonder why he is not at least in the conversation about a possible national team call-up. He did quite well in the CONCAAF champion’s league when he was with the Crew.
feel bad for lindpere seems like hes the only tha cares out there sometimes teemu but its all lindpere but as long as mendes n keel r playin d for us we will continue to not do well
need rodgers and marquez back asap or this team will continue to not do well and we better have a new gk after july 15 if were trying to win the championship if not its the same old @#%^& for us red bulls fans
red bulls dont win the next two theyre in big trouble
Im surprised the attendance wasnt mentioned in the article. Who would have thought that the quakes would have drawn 41K+ to this game??? Props to the marketing team
Ugh. Another two points thrown away due to goalkeeper incompetence. With the talent RBNY has, they should be doing really well — not sitting in second place behind a team of no-name, no-talent hacks like Philly. Soler do something please
Great game. On another note Soony Saad signed wit MLS.
Good game … It’s time to call “TIME” on BOUNA time. He is the Gomes of MLS
Well, obviously Soler and Backe are now forced to get a new GK. That’s 3 weeks in a row with a major GK error. I think we need another defender and another attacking mid, too, but GK is now priority. They’re causing us to drop major points. Backe is partly to blame, here, since he hasn’t stuck with either keeper, and thus hasn’t allowed them to gain confidence or find a rhythm. Lindpere, as always, is a Working-Class Hero.