Red Bull New York handed Toronto FC their first home loss of the season in stunning fashion, picking up a 4-1 win in Canada two weeks ago.  They failed to replicate their success and be the first to beat Real Salt Lake at home this year, falling 1-0 to their hosts in a poor match.  New York was crippled by international call ups to Rafa Marquez, Bouna Coundoul, Roy Miller, and Dane Richards.  Joel Lindpere, who has caught a mean case of loving-America-itis has declined his call ups to the Estonian national team for the rest of the year.  Without a big portion of the squad missing, Metro looked flat during the match and rarely threatened the opposition goal.

The first half started out on a horrible note (unless you are a Salt Lake fan, but they don’t really exist anyway).  Fabian Espindola received a ball from midfield, torching Tim Ream and beating back up Greg Sutton in the 4th minute.  Salt Lake continued to outplay Metro throughout the half, creating solid chances and moving the ball well.  Things went both ways, with the Red Bulls having a shot cleared off the line by Jamison Olave towards the end of the half.  Despite the occasional chance for the visitors it was clear Salt Lake had the better side of play, and Greg Sutton was forced to really work for the first time in his short New York career.  The attack was largely flat and the rate of turnovers was high.

The second half showed an immediate improvement for Metro, with possession and passing both improving.  Angel was denied by an excellent Rimando save in the 55th minute.  Things settled down shortly thereafter, with both squads sharing possession fairly evenly.  Mendes and Ream, who both struggled on the evening dealing with Salt Lake’s speed at forward, were burned again in the 72nd minute, but were saved by Robbie Findley’s horrendous finishing.  Momentum was again shifting towards Salt Lake, As Javier Morales placed a beautiful free kick just over the bar only minutes later.  Salt Lake didn’t manage to capitalize on their solid possession and Metro barely managed to threaten Nick Rimando for the rest of the match.  Although the hosts couldn’t add to their tally, the Red Bulls couldn’t produce enough to level the game and were forced home without points from Utah.

It’s back to the drawing board for New York, who still have to play games at Dallas and Los Angeles this month, as well as host the Rapids.  Metro certainly didn’t look great in this match, but if they can look passed this loss and play the way they have been in past weeks with all of their starters, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Lineups:

New York- Danleigh Borman, Tim Ream, Carlos Mendes, Chris Albright (Salou Ibrahim), Joel Lindpere, Tony Tchani, Seth Stammler, Mac Kandji (76 Sinisa Ubiparipovic), Thierry Henry, Juan Pablo Angel

Salt Lake- Nick Rimando, Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Robbie Russell, Ned Grabavoy, Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales, Andy Williams, Fabian Espindola (50 Pablo Campos), Robbie Findley (75 Nelson Gonzalez)

Scoring Summary:

4: Espindola (RSL)

Disciplinary Summary:

18: Yellow to Tony Tchani (NYRB)
38: Yellow to Danleigh Borman (NYRB)
39: Yellow to Jamison Olave (RSL)
74: Yellow to Seth Stammler (NYRB)