Red Bulls take aim at winless streak
Without a win in six weeks, New York travels to Toronto
That remains to be seen, but there are signs that the Red Bulls might be making their way out of their doldrums.
"We fought hard against Seattle, thought we played well in the first half, and obviously the results are not there and we need to win games because we're going to run out of games soon," defender Carlos Mendes said. "But there's definitely a light at the end of the tunnel. I think one win will turn it around for us."
Saturday night's 1-1 draw against Seattle Sounders FC at Giants Stadium is a good example. New York played well in the first half, capitalized on a Sounders FC defensive miscue to take a lead on Juan Pablo Angel's first goal in the run of play since that win against the Quakes.
But the Red Bulls were done in by a gaffe of their own, as Fredy Montero stripped rookie fullback Jeremy Hall deep in his own defensive third and the Colombian striker scored the equalizer deep into first-half stoppage time.
Hall's blunder was just one of several mistakes that have cost New York points in recent weeks. Seth Stammler was called for a handball in the box just three minutes into a 2-1 loss in Toronto on June 13 and, after goalkeeper Danny Cepero dove to save Amado Guevara's penalty kick, Sam Cronin was unmarked and pounced on the rebound for the game's first goal.
In a 4-0 thrashing in New England, Nick Zimmerman failed to shield a ball out of bounds, which led to a Steve Ralston goal and opened the floodgates for two more Revs goals.
This time, though, the Red Bulls didn't roll over and die. Sure, New York did little in the attack after halftime against Sounders FC, but the Red Bulls also didn't concede a goal, either.
Cepero denied Roger Levesque in second-half stoppage time after Montero hit the post earlier in the half. The Red Bulls were unhappy to give away two points, but to come away with at least a point after such a devastating mistake is seen as a positive.
"I don't think we played as well in the second half against Seattle, we weren't moving the ball well," Mendes said. "But we stayed in it and battled and gave ourselves a chance, basically."
Unfortunately for the Red Bulls, the hole they dug themselves leaves little room for moral victories. They are six points adrift in the Eastern Conference basement with 10 points out of 16 games and are already nine points out of a playoff spot.
"There's definitely some positives to be taken from those 135 minutes we played," said Seth Stammler, referring to the second half at Toronto and the game against Seattle. "However, you cant put too much into it because at the end of the day we have to do whatever is necessary to get the results. Ties and losses aren't going to cut it right now."
That won't be an easy task for a Red Bulls team that is winless in 20 consecutive regular-season games on the road -- a dubious Major League Soccer record -- and head to Canada with a depleted backline.
Kevin Goldthwaite, who missed the TFC game with a sprained left foot, is suspended for Wednesday's clash because of yellow card accumulation. It's likely the central defender wouldn't have played anyway after he was forced to come off against Seattle with a groin injury.
Mike Petke was expected back after serving a one-game suspension for two stoppage-time bookings against Toronto FC. But the veteran center back has been banned two additional games and fined $500 by the league for "inappropriate conduct and comments made toward the officiating crew" after the game.
Andrew Boyens is back after playing for New Zealand in the Confederations Cup and he joined the team on the flight to Toronto. He could join Carlos Mendes centrally in the Red Bulls back four.
"Hopefully the experiences over the last couple of weeks will lead us do that little extra work to guarantee a victory," Stammler said. "You can't help to think if our bad luck has run out."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
