RSL faces crucial test in Red Bulls
With playoff hopes on the line, Real Salt Lake host New York
RIO TINTO STADIUM, Sandy, Utah
Oct. 14, 2009 (WEEK 31) / MLS Game #210
8 p.m. MT (ESPN2/Deportes)
When Real Salt Lake and the New York Red Bulls last met at Rio Tinto Stadium, it was with a trip to MLS Cup 2008 on the line. The teams meet again in Utah nearly a year later facing very different situations. Eliminated from playoff contention, the Red Bulls are trying to avoid becoming the third team in MLS history to go winless on the road for the entire season. Real Salt Lake are trying to keep their slim playoff hopes - a win against New York is almost necessary as they sit four points out of the final wild card spot with three games still to play.
REFEREE: Baldomero Toledo. SAR (bench): Peter Manikowski; JAR (opposite): Fabio Tovar; 4th: Tyler Ploeger
MLS Career: 86 games; FC/gm: 26.2; Y/gm: 4.0; R: 37; pens: 35
INJURY REPORT: REAL SALT LAKE - QUESTIONABLE: MF Ned Grabavoy (L foot contusion); PROBABLE: FW Fabian Espíndola (R hamstring tightness); MF Javier Morales (R ankle sprain); GK Nick Rimando (illness); DF Robbie Russell (illness) ... NEW YORK RED BULLS - OUT: DF Kevin Goldthwaite (adductor surgery); FW John Wolyniec (L ankle surgery); QUESTIONABLE: MF Jorge Rojas (L knee hyperextension); FW Juan Pablo Angel (R ankle sprain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: NY: Bouna Coundoul (Senegal; 10/14 v South Korea)
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: RSL: Nat Borchers, Clint Mathis, Robbie Russell ... NY: Dane Richards
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: RSL: Pablo Campos, Fabian Espindola, Will Johnson, Javier Morales, Jamison Olave, Chris Wingert ... NY: Danleigh Borman, Carlos Johnson, Mike Petke, Seth Stammler
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (9 meetings): Real Salt Lake 0 wins, 10 goals ... Red Bulls 3 wins, 19 goals ... Ties 6
AT SALT LAKE (4 meetings): Real Salt Lake 0 wins, 7 goals ... Red Bulls 0 wins, 7 goals ... Ties 4
• Real Salt Lake have never defeated the Red Bulls, now in 10 meetings all-time in all competitions.
• The teams met last year at Rio Tinto Stadium in the Western Conference Championship, Dave van den Bergh continuing his rich vein of form against RSL with the lone goal of the game to send New York to a first MLS Cup Final. Van den Bergh, now with FC Dallas, scored in each game vs. RSL last year.
• After a scoreless draw at the Meadowlands in the club's first ever game, Real have lost their last four visits to Giants Stadium.
• RSL closed out their Rice-Eccles Stadium chapter of the series New York having never lost - nor ever defeated - the Red Bulls there. The teams played to draws in each of the three meetings there, then played to a draw in their first meeting ever at Rio Tinto Stadium.
• Coaches record: Jason Kreis vs. NY: P5 W0 L2 D3 ... Richie Williams v RSL: first game
LAST MEETING (MLS):
4/18: NY 2, RSL 0 (Kandji 2; Angel 57)
• The Red Bulls maintained their undefeated history against Real Salt Lake, getting a 2-0 victory in the first meeting between the clubs, April 18 at Giants Stadium.
• It took the Red Bulls just two minutes to open their account with the first goal scored by one of their own players. Dane Richards won the ball on the right side and sent in a rolling cross. RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando was able to parry it, but only as far as Macoumba Kandji, who side-footed home the easiest of finishes into the empty goal.
• The Red Bulls doubled the lead just before the hour with a wonderful movement. Juan Pablo Angel and Kandji played a one-two at midfield that sent Kandji racing toward the RSL goal. Angel continued his run and in the box, Kandji laid the ball off to his right and Angel slotted it home inside the far post.
• Here's Juan Carlos Osorio's team (4-3-1-2): Jon Conway - Jeremy Hall, Carlos Mendes, Kevin Goldthwaite, Alfredo Pacheco - Dane Richards (John Wolyniec 86), Seth Stammler, Khano Smith (Danleigh Borman 76) - Jorge Rojas - Juan Pablo Angel (Luke Sassano 61), Macoumba Kandji. Substitutes Not Used: Danny Cepero, Dominic Oduro, Mike Petke, Sinisa Ubiparipovic
• Here's Kreis's team (4-3-1-2): Nick Rimando - Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers, David Horst (Luis Miguel Escalada 65), Robbie Russell - Clint Mathis (Ned Grabavoy 82), Kyle Beckerman, Will Johnson - Javier Morales - Robbie Findley (Andy Williams 78), Yura Movsisyan. Substitutes Not Used: Jean Alexandre, Tony Beltran, Raphael Cox, Kyle Reynish
REAL SALT LAKE
Real Salt Lake saw their playoff hopes take another blow, falling to a second consecutive defeat in their last league match, a 3-0 loss at FC Dallas on Sept. 26. Real have 34 points from 27 matches on the year, in seventh place in the Western Conference, four points out of the final wild card spot with three matches remaining.LAST MATCH
• FC Dallas were coming off a 3-2 in loss in Kansas City that left their playoff hopes in a perilous state, while Real Salt Lake had seen a three-game unbeaten run come to an end in a 3-2 loss at the Houston Dynamo the week before.
• The home side led by two goals before the game was 10 minutes old. In the fifth minute, David Ferreira put in a cross from the right flank and it was knocked down by Dave van den Bergh, right at the feet of Jeff Cunningham. The veteran striker, with his back to goal, turned and fired a low strike inside the right post.
• Then van den Bergh again played provider for FCD's second, in the 10th minute. Filtering a through ball into the left side of the area for Ferreira, the Colombian flicked a neat touch with the outside of right boot inside the far post for his seventh goal.
• FCD put the game away in the 87th minute. Given time and space at the top of the area, Cunningham let fly with a searing low shot that sailed inside the left-hand post for his second goal of the game, the 119th of his league career and his 15th of the season, pulling him into a tie with Colorado's Conor Casey for the MLS Golden Boot.
• Real coach Jason Kreis made three changes to the team that lost 3-2 to the Houston Dynamo on the road the week before. Tony Beltran returned to the back four for the suspended Jamison Olave, and Robbie Findley and Yura Movsisyan took up wide attacking roles in place of Rachid El Khalifi and Fabian Espindola.
• Here's Kreis's team (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando - Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers, Robbie Russell, Tony Beltran - Will Johnson (Clint Mathis 61), Kyle Beckerman - Robbie Findley, Javier Morales (Andy Williams 61), Yura Movsisyan - Pablo Campos (Fabian Espindola 61). Substitutes Not Used: Rachid El Khalifi, Ned Grabavoy, David Horst, Chris Seitz
TEAM NEWS
• The week before, RSL had fallen behind by two goals after just five minutes to the Houston Dynamo, but battled back to forge a 2-2 draw - even after going down a man - before finally falling 3-2. Once again RSL was down by two goals inside the opening 10 minutes, but managed no comeback.
• "I thought there would be something break our way that would lead to some confidence, some momentum and some emotion from our players. We had some chances there after that second goal where we were in their box with some chances to score but we don't take them," Kreis said. "Maybe if one of those things happen, maybe the emotions and the momentum shift our way and maybe we have a good reaction. We need to show a little more fight to get to that point."
• Real have conceded eight goals in the opening quarter-hour of the match, just one fewer than league leader and Wednesday opponent New York.
• "We just couldn't believe it was happening again," Robbie Findley said. "Last week, it was the same thing and we let it happen again this weekend. We kept fighting and we weren't going to give up."
• With nearly three full weeks between league matches, Kreis promised his team wouldn't enjoy their "time off" - and he turned the time into essentially a late-season training camp
• "We've treated this break as a mini-preseason and I would love to not be in that position," Kreis said. "I would love to have come off a win and said, 'OK, everything is good. Have an enjoyable time.' But desperate times call for desperate measures."
• Last Saturday, RSL did return to the field, playing Mexico's CD Guadalajara to a 1-1 draw. Fabian Espindola's first-half goal put RSL into a well-deserved, but Omar Esparza provided the 52nd-minute equalizer for Chivas.
• Here's Kreis's team: Chris Seitz (Nick Rimando 46); Tony Beltran, David Horst (Nat Borchers 46), Jamison Olave, Chris Wingert; Kyle Beckerman (Will Johnson 46), Fabian Espíndola (Robbie Findley 46), Ned Grabavoy (Clint Mathis 46), Javier Morales (Andy Williams 42), Nelson Gonzalez (Rachid El Khalifi 46); Yura Movsisyan (Pablo Campos 46)
• "Obviously there's a lot of positives you can take out but, at the end of the day, we had a lead and we gave it up," midfielder Will Johnson said. "If we do that one more time this season, our season is 100 percent over."
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls saw their winless streak stretched to four games after the first back-to-back wins on the year, falling 1-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes on Oct. 3 at Buck Shaw Stadium. The Red Bulls have 18 points from 28 matches on the season, sitting in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, 31oints off the pace of Eastern Conference leaders Columbus Crew.
LAST MATCH
• The Earthquakes had kept their slim playoff ambitions alive with a win and two draws in their last three games, while the Red Bulls had recorded two wins and two draws in the five games since Richie Williams took over as interim head coach.
• The only goal of the game came in the 24th minute. Arturo Alvarez cut in from the right and tried to slip between a pair of New York defenders, and when he went down the penalty kick was given. Ryan Johnson stepped up to convert for his 10th goal on the season and third in the last four games.
• Red Bulls interim head coach Richie Williams made three changes to the team that came back for a 1-1 draw with Chivas USA the previous Saturday. Luke Sassano and Sinisa Ubiparipovic came back into the midfield, in place of Albert Celades and Danleigh Borman.
• Here's Williams' team (4-4-2): Bouna Coundoul - Carlos Johnson, Andrew Boyens, Mike Petke, Jeremy Hall (Danleigh Borman 57) - Dane Richards, Seth Stammler, Luke Sassano (Matthew Mbuta 82), Sinisa Ubiparipovic - Juan Pablo Angel, Macoumba Kandji. Substitutes Not Used: Danny Cepero, Kevin Goldthwaite, Leo Krupnik
TEAM NEWS
• The rematch of the Western Conference Championship from a year ago will be the 15th and final road game for the Red Bulls this season, and they are 0-12-2 with 3 goals scored and 25 conceded. They are looking to avoid becoming the third team in league history to go winless for an entire season on the road, joining the 2003 Los Angeles Galaxy (0-9-6) and 2005 Real Salt Lake (0-14-2).
• "We've only got four wins, so we're trying our hardest to get as many wins as we can," Williams said. "We've got one more road game, and it would be nice to be able to get three points on the road (against Real Salt Lake) to end that streak and we're going to keep working at it."
• The Red Bulls' road winless streak has now reached 26 games (0-19-7) since a 2-1 win at the LA Galaxy on May 10, 2008.
• "There are two games left in the season so really the pressure is off us right now. It's time for us to go out there and work as hard as we can," said Mike Petke. "We need to enjoy ourselves and salvage whatever we can from our remaining games. It's easy to pack it in and throw the towel in when you know you're not in the playoffs, but now is the time we need to play for our pride, our team, and our fans."
• While the Red Bulls might not have been able to build upon their back-to-back wins, they have still posted a .500 record since Williams took over for Juan Carlos Osorio as head coach.
• "We're professional soccer players, this is what we do for a living," Williams said. "So whether it's a little pick up game here or a training session there, you always need to show up. You have got to have pride in yourself and in what you do, and come every day and be competitive and want to do well. We've had such a disappointing season that we want to show everybody that we're still a good team and that we still can get results. Over the last six games, it's been a little bit better, we've got some points, got some wins. With two games left we're going to try and get six more points out of them."
• Since taking over, Williams has consistently set out his team in a 4-4-2 scheme, though he did go to three in the back for the second half in San Jose.
• "We changed our formation a few minutes into the half and it gave us an extra player in the midfield, which improved our passing a bit," he said. "We kept getting let down in our final third, the final pass or the final touch never seemed to go our way. But overall I was happy with the way the guys played. They worked hard and kept plugging away, trying different things and mixing it up on offense, but it just didn't work for us."
• The Red Bulls will be without John Wolyniec and Kevin Goldthwaite for the final two matches, after both underwent season-ending surgery last week. Wolyniec underwent right ankle surgery Oct. 6, to remove two bone chips, while Goldthwaite had a left adductor release procedure performed Oct. 7.
