The New York Red Bulls posted just one shot on target on Wednesday night, but it just so happened that their effort landed in the back of the net.
Mike Grella’s lone goal on the evening was enough to push the Red Bulls past the Chicago Fire, 1-0, giving the home side a much needed lift in front of their home fans at Red Bull Arena.
Striker Bradley Wright-Phillips picked up the ball outside the 18-yard box in the 58th minute, cleverly played a back-heel to Lloyd Sam, who then found Grella to give the Red Bulls their advantage.
The Red Bulls came out with long spells of possession to open the game, however, the team’s attack was missing the final touch. Jesse Marsch’s side continued to press as the match progressed, but Grella’s finish proved to be the team’s most dangerous attack.
David Accam had the best opportunity of the first-half for the Fire when he struck his effort off the cross bar from distance. The winger gathered the ball after a short free-kick worked with Johan Kappelhof before hitting woodwork from nearly 40 yards away from net.
Including Wednesday’s meeting, the last seven matches between the two teams has been decided by a goal or fewer.
The Red Bulls will meet New York City FC on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, while the Fire host the Houston Dynamo later that day.
MAN OF THE MATCH
He was elbowed, shoved and landed on top of, but Connor Lade made every defensive play he needed to on Wednesday. The diminutive defender will likely have a black eye for his effort, but Lade’s tenacity certainly helped the Red Bulls gain three points.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
Chances were far and few, however, Mike Grella‘s goal just before the hour mark was enough to change the complexion of the match for good.
MATCH TO FORGET
In only his second match back since returning from an injury, David Accam failed to get into any sort of rhythm offensively for the Fire. The 25-year-old managed three shots, none of which were on target.
Kind of a familiar story for RBNY this year – tons and tons of possession with little end product and few real chances. Chicago were predictably terrible and non-threatening and the backline last night were able to deal with their one-trick pony threat of using Accam’s and Igboananike’s speed on the counter. In that sense, having Duvall at CB helped because, despite his faults playing out of position at CB, he at least is fast.
RBNY will have to play better than this to beat most other MLS teams.