HARRISON, N.J. — After three straight weeks to forget, the New York Red Bulls gave all but 1,000 of the 19,252 who flocked to Red Bull Arena on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend a night to remember. The club put in one of their best shifts of the season, recovering from a shaky opening 10 minutes to dominate the visiting New England Revolution.
The home side held 60.5 percent of possession, outshot the opposition and created a vast majority of the match’s best chances to score. And while they seemed destined to settle for a second consecutive draw as each passing chance was wasted, the Red Bulls finally pulled through in the 74th minute, scoring a second goal to push the result to its eventual final score of 2-1 in their favor.
Collectively, it was a success. Here’s a look at how each individual did for themselves:
— Luis Robles – There wasn’t much the goalkeeper could do on the goal considering it came from the penalty spot. Robles’ name wasn’t called up often but he came up big when he needed to. He made big saves in the fifth minute, when he pushed a shot onto the crossbar, and in the 87th minute, when he dove to his right to block a shot from Diego Fagundez, who suffered the foul which led to New England’s penalty.
As solid a performance as fans have come to expect from the 2015 Major League Soccer Goalkeeper of the Year.
He earns an 8.2.
— Damien Perrinelle – Going unnoticed over the course of 90 minutes is as good as it gets for a central defender — the less your name is brought up, the better.
Which is why it wasn’t a good sign for the Red Bulls that one of its center backs played a prominent role in the early going of the match against the Revolution. The Frenchman gave up penalty in the eighth minute with a sloppy, ill-advised tackle on Diego Fagundez, who made a club record 66th consecutive appearance.
Sure, it wasn’t Perrinelle’s fault that the midfield was playing sloppy itself early on, Felipe losing possession at the center circle which allowed the quick Revolution counter to occur. But he left his feet unneccesarily and the team paid the price for it.
He had a chance to redeem himself near the end of first half on a corner, but his head couldn’t fully connect with Sacha Klejstan’s cross.
Perrinelle’s luck arrives in the fact his team was able to dig itself out of the hole he put it in. It wasn’t without his effort that the Red Bulls hung on and didn’t allow the Revolution to score again for the final 82 minutes, but the blemish of the penalty is a big one.
He gets a 4.2.
— Aaron Long – Long started off wobbly when he was turned inside out by Kelyn Rowe, allowing him space to shoot and forcing Robles to make a save onto the crossbar. He recovered from there, however, staying steady for the remainder of his time on the pitch in what was his eighth consecutive start in place of Aurelien Collin, who continues to recover from a strained abdominal muscle.
Long appeared to have picked up an injury of his own midway through the second half, coming off with 10 minutes to go. It would turn out to be just a scare, as Marsch confirmed it was a cramp in his postgame press conference.
Long’s relatively steady performance earns him a 7.9.
— Sal Zizzo – I can verify that he was on the pitch, the man chosen to replace the suspended Michael Murillo at right-back. I cannot, however, tell you that he did anything other than exist on the pitch for 90 minutes.
About as vanilla as a performance as you can get, which isn’t necessarily a negative.
Or a positive.
Just neutral.
Which merits a 5.
— Kemar Lawrence – After putting in a man-of-the-match performance last time out against Toronto FC, Lawrence was back at it doing what he does best against New England Saturday night.
He was popping up everywhere on the pitch, making smart, purposeful runs in attack — one of which led to the game-winning goal from Daniel Royer — and leaving enough energy for some last-ditch tackles at midfield to kill a pair of counter-attacks, most impressively catching up to Kei Kamara, making a clean tackle and even earning a goal kick.
Lawrence’s performance came short of perfection due to the lack of a goal, something he almost accomplished with a rocket of a volley which was stopped by a magnificent save by Cody Cropper.
One hell of a hit by Lawrence, one hell of a save by Cody Cropper. #NYvNE pic.twitter.com/cT3Eyo7R73
— Brian Fonseca (@briannnnf) May 28, 2017
The man has lungs of steel and the heart of a lion (or bull, whichever you prefer). While his hustle won’t appear on the stat sheet, it’s as vital to the Red Bulls success as anything else.
“My gosh,” Marsch said of Lawrence, speaking for all who witnessed tonight’s match. “He’s playing the best he’s ever played.”
Another brilliant shift earns Lawrence a 9.3 and Man of the Match honors.
— Felipe – Remaining in a deeper role than he is accustomed to for another match, Felipe seemed to lag at times, overstep his boundaries by going too far forward at other times. But in the end, he received praise from his manager.
“He pours his heart into this at the highest level, with every ounce of being that he has,” Marsch said of Felipe.
I’m not so convinced.
Felipe doesn’t look as good as he did in his more comfortable role in central midfield. He was shaky on the ball at times, surrendering possession at the center circle which led directly to the Revolution’s penalty and their only goal.
He was far too involved in attack, errors which were masked by Kemar Lawrence’s unbelievable performance in stopping numerous potent counterattacks.
And when he was up in attack, he didn’t contribute much to the attack aside from a weak corner, making the energy he exhausted with his extra running a waste.
I give him a 5.7.
— Sacha Kljestan – After a shaky start in which he lost multiple balls from overdribbling, Kljestan grew into the game at the same pace as his team did.
He provided some lethal crosses on corner which deserved to be finished, some incisive passes which fell just short of their target and even fired a shot or two, something he’s been hesitant to do as of late.
It wasn’t his best performance, but it was a step forward from his lackluster night against Toronto. The signs are pointing in a positive direction.
He earns a 7.2.
— Daniel Royer – The forward didn’t do much in the first half aside from nearly equalizing the match with a volley in the 43rd that barely went over the crossbar. He made up for it big time in the second half, though, scoring the winner in the 74th minute. Royer was in the right place at the right time, perfectly placed to put away a slicing cross from Kemar Lawrence.
Daniel Royer fires New York ahead!! ⚽️#NYvNE | #RBNY pic.twitter.com/fKSDri7aIQ
— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) May 28, 2017
While he didn’t contribute much else to the match other than those two events, his presence was among the most important for the home side.
That earns him an 7.9.
— Mike Grella – Grella’s best moment was a volley which nearly equalized the match in the late stages of the first half that ultimately went wide.
He didn’t do much wrong to hurt the team, but apart from a nice hesitation move to beat his defender on the left flank in the first half, he didn’t do much to help either. He was the first one subbed off by Marsch for the second consecutive match, a decision no one can blame him for.
Grella gets a 5.4.
— Sean Davis – A surprise inclusion in the starting 11, Davis was impressive in the first half. He had a chance to equalize in 20th minute in which his header went over the crossbar, another in the 25th where he received the ball well, turned and shot at top of 18 directly into the hands of Cropper. He looked confident on ball, sure of himself as he held up play well and didn’t misstep in the first half.
Sean Davis with #RBNY's best chance to equalize, but his header goes over the bar. Great ball in by Kljestan, though. pic.twitter.com/eHCaTpYWwj
— Brian Fonseca (@briannnnf) May 27, 2017
Davis wasn’t as impressive in the second half. Though he played out the entire 90 minutes, no event from the final 45 come to mind.
Regardless, his time on the pitch was a net positive, showing he is a valid option even when Tyler Adams returns from the U-20 World Cup.
Davis gets a 6.4.
— Bradley Wright-Phillips – The goalkeeper could make 999 saves in a single game, but if he surrenders a single goal, the saves he made are all forgotten.
A striker has the fortune of the reversal — score a goal and the 999 misses before it are forgiven.
To an extent, that describes Bradley Wright-Phillips night. He touched the ball just 13 times in the first half, unable to add much to the game as his team struggled to send through the final ball in to him.
Seconds into the second half, Wright-Phillips was running up the sidelines celebrating the equalizer, one he scored by persistently poaching a shot coughed up by Cropper.
#BWPBackheel pic.twitter.com/akAYDEs7Jn
— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) May 28, 2017
He continued to hustle at the level he’s accustomed to, but even if he had done nothing else for the remainder of the match, his biggest contribution was enough.
BWP did his job, so for that, he earns a minimal score of 7.1.
SUBS:
— Gonzalo Veron – Contributed an extra body on the defensive end of the pitch when the Revolution began piling on the pressure. Didn’t do much in attack, but his team didn’t need him to.
He earns a 5.8.
— Alex Muyl – Coming on in the final 10 minutes, the homegrown Red Bull didn’t have enough time to make a contribution in attack as the Revolution piled on the pressure in search of an equalizer. Scoring his performance would be unfair no matter what he was given, so because of that, I won’t even bother.
No score.
— Connor Lade – Came in for Long, who suffered a cramp in his hamstring. Did what he had to do, keeping the players he was defending in front of him at all times and closing down any Revolution chances he could quickly. Lade’s 10 minutes in action earn him a 7.1.
Follow Brian Fonseca on Twitter @briannnnf for updates. Email him at brianfilipefonseca@gmail.com with questions, concerns, tips or story ideas.
