Week 10: New England Revolution 3 - New York Red Bulls 2

It is official, the New York Red Bulls are sliding.  With Saturday's 3:2 loss against New England, Metro managed to lose four straight and go from 5-1 to 5-5.  Another tough loss, New York played well but was doomed by bad marking and two red cards, which saw them reduced to nine men.  The match was also marred by a horrendous looking injury to Revolution goalkeeper Preston Burpo, who collided with Dane Richards in the first half.

Apparently the right back position is cursed for anyone not named Jeremy Hall.  Earlier in the season backup Luke Sassano was given an opportunity to start at right back against San Jose, and didn't last 15 minutes before being ejected with a red card.  Today Carlos Mendes, who actually had a good game barring his dismissal, managed a whopping 55 minutes at right back before picking up a second yellow card and exiting the game.  If Chris Albright starts Wednesday, he might even last to the 70th minute!  Outside of Mendes, the starting 11 was fairly familiar, and consisted of Bouna Coundoul, Danleigh Borman, Tim Ream, Mike Petke, Roy Miller, Joel Lindpere, Seth Stammler, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, and Juan Pablo Angel, and Dane Richards.

Sadly, this loss feels somewhat familiar.  Although New York hasn't struggled with red cards much this year (the second of the game went to Roy Miller in the 75th minute) it has often outplayed opponents only to end up on the wrong side of the scoresheet.  Metro opened the game well, pushing forward and controlling the game.  Although New England scored early, with Perovic receiving a great Shalrie Joseph Ball, outrunning Petke, and blasting it past Bouna on the near post in the 9th minute, New York still looked good.  By the 20th minute Seth Stammler replied, making the game 1-1 after curling in a left footed shot that looked a bit like a cross gone awry past Burpo and into the upper side netting. 

New England picked up its second goal against the run of play when Tim Ream, who looks more and more like a rookie than the all star he was playing like early in the year, headed a Revs' cross into the back of his own net. All momentum for either team in the first was shattered when Dane Richards collided with Burpo, who surged out of his box to clear a Lindpere through ball, and the keeper clearly broke his leg from Richards challenge.  The injury was disturbing and shook all players on the field, with some of Burpo's teammates breaking down into tears.

After both teams had some time to collect themselves, New York came out of halftime strong, and would pick up the lead by the 49th minute.  Danleigh Borman lofted in a solid cross, and Angel met it with a diving header, slamming it to the back of the net.  With the game tied at 2, Metro looked prepared to push for the win, but it was hampered by yellow cards to Mendes and Miller.  5 Minutes after Metro was reduced to 9 men, Zack Schilawski, who was totally unmarked in Red Bull's box, headed home a chipped Joseph pass.  His goal was the last of the game, which ended 3-2.  New York played well, even after the first red card to Mendes, but it simply couldn't cope with being down two players and gave up multiple goals against the run of play.  They have two home games next week before the break for the World Cup, so there is time yet to right the ship.

Dave Braneck is a blogger and an all around soccer fan who represents North Jersey to the fullest and contributes to Dailyharrison.com

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