Much like a bicycle chain which has sat outside in the rain a bit too long, so too did the New York Red Bulls look rusty as they took on the Vancouver Whitecaps in the first leg of this quarter-final series. The South Ward sang “We Love Ya” in full voice as the Red Bulls came out of the gate strong, debuting the new 4-2-2-2 for the first time in a competitive forum, but ultimately failed to overcome an equally struggling Whitecaps.
Vancouver looked to be the more dangerous team in the early minutes of the game, troubling New York goalkeeper Luis Robles with a dangerous in-swinger from midfielder Christian Techera. Seeking to exploit the Red Bulls’ high pressure system, Vancouver attempted to play long balls to its open wingers which proved to be a bit overwhelming for the New York defense at times. The Whitecaps would ultimately draw first blood in the 39th minute as forward Kekuta Manneh would manage to get a head to a cross from Techera past Robles to put Vancouver ahead.
Unwavered by their squandered chances in the first half, the Red Bulls continued their game plan in the second half. New York would be awarded a penalty in the 46th minute as Vancouver defender Jake Nerwinski downed New York winger Daniel Royer in the Whitecaps’ box. Kljestan took a swing and a miss at the penalty as a unconvincing strike was saved by goal keeper David Ousted’s outstretched leg to keep the game at 1-0 in favor of Vancouver. Later theatrics by Robles would limit the Red Bulls’ deficit to just one goal.
New York would exact their revenge in the 62nd minute as defender Sal Zizzo’s cross would find star forward Bradley Wright-Phillips in the box who calmly placed the ball to the far-right corner of the net to equalize the match. The underlying tension of the match would come to a head in the 70th minute as Techera’s foolishly high boot swing would miss the ball and instead make contact with Zizzo, warranting a straight red card. The score would remain at a tense yet scrappy 1-1 with Vancouver’s away goal working in their favor going into the second leg of the quarter-final series.
New York fans should remain optimistic despite a historically poor record against the Whitecaps. On the bright-side, this was the first competitive game of the season and the game plan from last year’s strong season remains wholly intact. Coming out of a shortened preseason due to the CONCACAF Champion’s League match, the Red Bulls looked less confident as evident in their horrendous passing. Yet these are sure to improve in time and the fluidity of play and defensive soundness should return to the team in the coming weeks.
The Red Bulls will travel to Vancouver to play the Whitecaps in the second leg of the quarter-final draw on Thursday, March 2nd with the winner advancing on the overall aggregate score of both legs.
Scoring Summary:
39′ Whitecaps: Manneh, assisted by Techera
62′ RBNY: Wright-Phillips, assisted by Zizzo
Disciplinary Summary:
41′ Whitecaps: Parker, yellow
55′ Whitecaps: Hurtado, yellow
70′ Whitecaps: Techera, red
80′ RBNY: Kljestan, yellow
Lineups:
RBNY: Robles, Bilyeu, Long, Collin, Zizzo, Kljestan, Davis, Felipe, Royer (73′ Etienne), Wright-Phillips (87′ Grella), Veron
Whitecaps: Ousted, Harvey, Parker, Waston, Nerwinski (75′ Williams), Techera, Laba, Teibert, Manneh (80′ Greig), Davies, Hurtado (63′ Barnes)
