Mexican captain Rafa Marquez scores his first MLS goal

Red Bull New York delivered Toronto FC its first home loss of the season in commanding fashion, winning the game 4-1.  New DP signing Rafa Marquez made amends for a mistake that cost New York last week’s game against Los Angeles, scoring an excellent goal and creating another while playing excellently for the 74 minutes he was on the pitch.  New York's other bajillionaire players, Thierry Henry and Juan Pablo Angel, were less impressive (although Angel did convert a penalty).  The horrifying fact for every other MLS team is that when New York has three players that talented, only one has to have a good game to deliver the win.

The first half was the best one yet of Rafa Marquez’ young New York career, and was enough to act as redemption from his terrible give away against LA last week.  Active throughout the period passing and breaking up plays, Marquez looked good even before his 35^th minute goal.  Marquez took a small flick from Tony Tchani on the half volley, stepping into the ball and ripping it through to the upper 90.  The visitors would go into the locker room up 2-0 thanks to a lucky (for them) own goal by Joseph Nane, knocked in during the 41^st minute on a Marquez free kick.

Although Marquez stole the show, the entire Red Bull midfield worked well throughout the half, moving the ball and creating chances.  Dane Richards looked exceptionally good, passing well and making solid decisions.  Sadly, even with the midfield firing on all cylinders Henry and Angel still looked sluggish up top, doing little with the service they received.  Toronto didn’t possess the ball as much as Metro but they did create chances, hitting the post in the 13^th minute.  New York’s defense wasn’t as effective as usual at limiting chances, but Mendes and Ream did well enough in sticky situations and making desperation tackles, keeping the Canadians scoreless in the first.

The second half started slowly for New York, and its lead was cut in half within the first 5 minutes of the half.  Dwayne De Rosario, Toronto’s captain with a penchant for celebrating goals by dancing like an inebriated Pterodactyl, slotted a ball through Bouna’s legs in the 49^th minute, dragging his club back into contention.  Thierry Henry had an excellent chance to increase Metro’s lead in the 57^th minute, but he blasted his shot high and wide.  Henry appears to be hanging out with Mac Kandji too much, as he has been missing easy chances constantly but pulling off plenty of pretty, yet useless, moves.

The match wouldn’t be competitive for long though, as Nana Attakora blatantly handled the ball in the box in the 60^th minute, leading to his ejection from the match and Angel scoring a penalty, bringing the score to 3-1.  After Angel’s goal, the match slowed down for a bit, but picked up again around 15 minutes later.  Salou Ibrahim, who entered the match for Henry, had two point blank shots saved by Stefan Frei in the 77^th minute.  The Red Bulls would score on the ensuing corner kick, with Dane Richards collecting the cleared corner kick and delivering it to the back post, where Frei misread the ball, allowing Carl Robinson to score against his former team from close range.  Robinson took the classy route, keeping his celebration against his former team extremely muted.

Although Frei misread Robinsons goal, he had plenty of great saves throughout the match and gets the distinct honor of being the first ever keeper to play well on the bad side of a 4-1 loss.  Bouna, who also let in a soft goal, also made some big saves as the game opened up in the second half.  MLS HQ (which is located in the back corner of the Bat Cave) finally scheduled New York’s away game in Toronto on a Saturday, so a group of Red Bull fans got to travel with the team to Canukistan and enjoy the win.  After picking up 3 points in a huge Eastern Conference match up, New York has to prepare for its Saturday home game against San Jose, and gently remind Thierry Henry how to score goals.

Lineups:
New York- Bouna Coundoul, Roy Miller, Tim Ream, Carlos Mendes, Chris Albright, Joel Lindpere, Tony Tchani, Rafa Marquez (74 Carl Robinson), Dane Richards, Juan Pablo Angel, Thierry Henry (67 Salou Ibrahim)

Toronto- Stefan Frei, Dan Gargan, Adrian Cann, Nana Attakora, Nick Garcia, Nick LaBrocca, Martin Saric (77 Fuad Ibrahim), Dwane De Rosario, Joseph Nane, Mista (45 Jacob Peterson), O’Brian White (63 Chad Barrett)

Scoring Summary

35: Rafa Marquez (NYRB 1: Toronto 0)
41: OG Joseph Nane (NYRB 2: Toronto 0)
49: Dwayne De Rosario (NYRB 2: Toronto 1)
61: PK Juan Pablo Angel (NYRB 3: Toronto 1)
77: Carl Robinson (NYRB 4: Toronto 1)

Disciplinary Summary:

14: Yellow to Carlos Mendes (NYRB)
38: Yellow to Rafa Marquez (NYRB)
60: Red to Nana Attakora (Toronto)
72: Yellow to Salou Ibrahim

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