Week 8: New York 0 - Seattle 1

The New York Red Bulls lost their first game in any competition at Red Bull Arena, picking up a second straight league loss as they fell to the Seattle Sounders 1-0 on Saturday night.  Although New York did not play a terrible game, they failed to create chances and lacked creativity in the final third, and were doomed by a late goal from Fredy Montero.

Metro made three chances to the line up that lost 4-0 to San Jose last weekend, inserting Jeremy Hall, Carl Robinson, and Danleigh Borman into the line up.  Bouna Coundoul (who had another off game), Tim Ream, Mike Petke, Seth Stammler, Joel Lindpere, Dane Richards, Salou Ibrahim, and Juan Pablo Angel all started as well.  As with many of New York's games this season, play was fairly even between the two teams, with possession shifting back and forth and neither side dominating.  As opposed to some of the other games this year, the lucky bounces happened to go against New York, instead of for it.

An even game, neither teams created that many chances, more of a battle.  Our defenders  did rather okay but I think the problem was with the attacking game in the final third. -Hans Backe, New York Red Bulls Head Coach

Possession may have been even, but that didn't help Metro out on the scoreline.  The hosts only managed one shot on goal during the entire match, and it was not threatening.  The first half was particularly slow, with neither team truly challenging the other or putting pressure on opposing keepers.  New York and Seattle went into halftime deadlocked.

Seattle looked destined to break that deadlock in the 53rd minute, when Bouna was caught ridiculously far off his line and beat by Sanna Nyassi who shot on an open net.  Thankfully Borman was charging through the box and managed to make a desperate last minute goal line save, preventing New York from going down a goal early in the second half.

Yeah, just lucky I was there.  I saw Bouna coming out, and the only option for me was to cover the goal.  Luckily I was fast enough to get there.  It is my job, that is what I am there to do. -Danleigh Borman on his 53rd minute goal line save

Metro's offensive struggles only looked worse when Brian Nielsen (who is usually a left mid) was inserted at striker for an injured Ibrahim in the 52nd minute, but Nielsen actually has experience playing a second striker in Europe.  It is clear he has technical skill and is a talented player, but Nielsen still needs some time to adjust to the league and familiarize himself with his teammates.  His insertion into the match did little to help New York create chances in the second half, although he does have the distinguished title of being the only player on the team to register a shot on goal.

New York looked destined to scrape out an ugly 0-0 tie until the 85th minute.  Brad Evans, who played up top for Seattle despite his usual central midfield role, chipped a nice pass to Fredy Montero (who started on the bench).  Montero took it down, easily broke Mike Petke's tackle, and beat Bouna Coundoul near post.  Petke and the rest of the back line looked solid throughout the game, but one poor play cost the team three points.  It probably wouldn't have been a problem if the team was capable of producing in the attack. 

Metro has five days until they host the undefeated Columbus Crew.  Now is an important time to right the ship, as another loss would see a three game losing streak for the club, and a win would bring them back towards the top of the east.

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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