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Red Bulls rally from two down to edge Fire

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Mike Grella New York Red Bulls 11

photo by Noah K. Murray/USA Today Sports

By FRANCO PANIZO

HARRISON, N.J. — The Chicago Fire’s speed once again posed problems for the New York Red Bulls, but Jesse Marsch’s side was able to find a way to overcome that this time.

New York rallied from two goals down to defeat Chicago, 3-2, at Red Bull Arena on Friday night. Jeff Larentowicz and David Accam scored within the opening 26 minutes to give the Fire a two-goal lead, but the Red Bulls responded with two tallies of their own in the first half before Sacha Kjestan struck a winner in the 71st minute.

Kljestan and Larentowicz’s goals came via questionable penalty kicks that were awarded by referee Armando Villarreal, however. Kljestan struck after Lloyd Sam was deemed to have been brought down in the box, and Larentowicz opened the scoring only after Damien Perrinelle was whistled for a foul on Kennedy Igboananke.

The victory moved the Red Bulls ahead of D.C. United and into the top spot of the Eastern Conference. The Fire, meanwhile, remain in last place and are a long shot to reach the playoffs.

The decisive play came in the 71st minute, seconds after Sam had a separate penalty kick appeal turned down. Kljestan stepped up to take the shot from 12 yards out, and buried it to complete New York’s comeback.

Having beaten the Red Bulls in the two clubs’ last meeting a couple of weeks ago, the Fire looked well on their way to repeating that feat in the opening half-hour.

Larentowicz beat Luis Robles in the 14th minute with a hard penalty kick to the left that the New York goalkeeper guessed correctly on but could not reach. The Fire then padded their lead in the 26th minute off a killer individual play from the speedy David Accam.

After a Red Bulls’ corner kick was cleared, Accam tracked down the ball and fought off Connor Lade before racing towards goal all alone. The Chicago attacker then pulled off a fake shot that sent a scrambling Robles the wrong way, and proceeded to calmly pass the ball into the empty net.

Bradley Wright-Phillips found a quick response for New York, however, striking two minutes later off a nice feed from Kljestan.

Chicago could have reclaimed a two-goal lead in the 35th minute via another deadly play in transition, but Accam pushed his open look wide after blazing by Kemar Lawrence.

The miss came back to haunt the Fire. Mike Grella got on the end of a low ball from Sam and made no mistake with his close-range effort, which opened the door for Kljestan’s game-winning penalty kick.

Making matters worse for the Fire and hurting their chances of coming out on top was that Igboananike had to leave the game in the 61st minute because of an injury.

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What did you think of the Red Bulls’ 3-2 comeback win over the Fire? Were you impressed by New York’s resilience? How disappointing a result is this for Chicago?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Even when Chicago scored, RBNY were dominating the game, enjoying all the possession. They were caught out twice by Chicago’s speedy forwards, just like in Chicago. After Chicago scored their second, that game was completely one-sided.

    Reply

      • Just to clarify, in no way am I saying SK is better than Bradley. But I do think that right now he’s better than Mix.

      • LOL? Everyone is entitled to their opinion,…but you are awfully dismissive of the man who is being paid millions to be both the technical director and first team coach for the USSF. There is a reason why he is both and you and I are neither.

        Nevertheless, I would still have taken a chance on Mix’s upside (talent and youth) as opposed to Klestjian’s decent game and limitations.

      • Have you haven’t watched the national team lately? This idea that it’s ridiculous for a mere fan to criticize a coach seems to be unique to JK supporters. I have never heard sports fans so deferential to a coach or player as certain US supporters are to JK.

        Maybe I could be convinced Mix is better but not just because JK thinks so. Mix isn’t better than Sacha simply because JK says it’s so. And I’m not saying Sacha should be back in the USMNT, just that at this point he’s a better player than Mix.

        Plus Mix is going to be 25 in a few weeks. He’s smack in the middle of a soccer player’s prime, about ages 24-28. He isn’t that young and probably isn’t going to get much better.

  4. This is a fun team to watch. Not beautiful but fun. The last few come from behind wins is all you ask as a fan – never give up, never quit on yourselves or the fans. i wonder where all those loud mouths are now? you know, the ones at the first town happy screaming at march and ali with such class. regardless what happens this year, nyrb r doing it right and all the fair weather Petke mob owe an apology to the coach, front office and other fans who cringed every time they opened their mouths.

    Reply

    • No they don’t. I was not at the infamous Town Hall but let’s break it down a bit.

      First, the Red Bulls had two very good seasons under Petke and they fired him. What if the team wins the Supporters Shield this year and the Red Bull front office fires Marsh? Or better yet,…don’t renew his contract, which was only a one year deal? How do you think people would react to that?

      Second,…the core of the team is the same,…Robles, McCarty, Sam, BWP. They added Mike Grella who was out of contract and from New York. He is making $65K. It was a bargain signing and it has panned out. Grella is playing well. Good for him! The real stroke of genius was Kemar Lawrence. Full credit to Red Bulls for this one. He is the best left back in MLS. SK and Felipe,…they are playing well but not lighting it up. McCarty makes Felipe. Sasha is playing OK but I would preferred Mix Diskerud in the long run. The point is,…Petke would have been coming back to the same core/nucleas. Who is to say they wouldn’t be doing as well with Petke as coach?

      Nevertheless, it doesn’t matter. The team moved on and is playing well.

      Reply

      • Mix has been playing out of position for NYCFC. Mix is a better player at SK’s position than SK. Mix makes about $230k more this year, and I suppose you could argue whether he’s worth that much more. But if its a pickup game and my choice at is Mix or SK, I’d select Mix.

      • Mix with 3 goals and 1 assist on the year. Sasha with 6 goals and 10 assists. Sasha has better players around him but also does more, particularly on the defensive end.

      • I’m saying a midfield of Kljestan, Felipe and McCarty works better than a midfield of Mix, Lampard and Pirlo, at least for now. Not enough defensive work from NYCFC there.

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