Sports stats



MLS New York Red Bulls

New York Red Bulls Weekly Update

September 7, 2009 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
New York Red Bulls News Release


NEW YORK LOOKS TO PUT ITS SPELL ON WIZARDS: The New York Red Bulls return from an off week when they host the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday at 7:30 PM ET at Giants Stadium (TV: MSG; Radio: WADO 1280 AM).

The Red Bulls are on a two-game winning streak after defeating FC Dallas (3-2) and the Columbus Crew (1-0) in their last two matches. New York's match against the Wizards will be the fourth game in a five-game homestand and the second time the two teams have squared off this season. New York lost, 1-0, to the Wizards off a Claudio Lopez penalty kick conversion at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on April 23. The Red Bulls played most of the match with 10 men after Carlos Johnson was sent off for committing the penalty in the box in the game's second minute.

Kansas City is still in the MLS Playoff race and boosted its credentials with a 4-2 win over the New England Revolution last Saturday at Gillette Stadium. Josh Wolff scored twice for the Wizards, who played with an extra man after New England's Shalrie Joseph was given a straight red card in the 23rd minute. The win snapped an eight-game winless streak (0-6-2) and was the Wizards' first since June 13. During this span, Peter Vermes, the team's technical director, took over as head coach on Aug. 4 for Curt Onalfo. The Wizards play at D.C. United on Wednesday at RFK Stadium before traveling to the Meadowlands.

New York has a 14-15-9 record all-time against the Wizards. At home, New York is 8-2-7. The Wizards have not won at the Meadowlands since earning a 2-1 victory on April 19, 2000. Since then, New York has gone 5-0-7 at Giants Stadium. The Wizards won the season series between the two teams last year, earning a 1-1 draw on May 17 at Giants Stadium and winning, 2-1, at home on July 10.

RAMPANT RICHARDS RUNS RED BULLS PAST CREW: A Dane Richards second half goal helped give the New York Red Bulls their second-straight win, as they topped the MLS Cup defending champion, the Columbus Crew, 1-0, at Giants Stadium Aug. 30. After a scoreless first half, Richards started and finished a 50-yard counterattack in the 63rd minute to give New York the three points. New York goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul made one save for his first shutout as a Red Bull.

In the 10th minute, Mike Petke had an opportunity to put the Red Bulls in front when his header inside the six-yard box from a Jorge Rojas cross went wide left. Less than nine minutes later, Rojas won the ball deep in Columbus' defensive half and found an open Juan Pablo Angel. The forward's ensuing shot was blocked by a sliding Gino Padula.

The Crew had the best chance of the half in the 25th minute. A Padula corner kick found Chad Marshall, who volleyed it to the right post. However, Danleigh Borman was there to knock it off the line. Columbus forward Jason Garey tried to put the rebound on goal, but his attempt went high.

Both teams looked to get in front after the half. Steven Lenhart flicked over an Emmanuel Ekpo cross four minutes in, before Richards led a counterattack and took a shot that went off the back of Marshall and just over the bar.

Red Bulls interim head coach Richie Williams made his first substitution in the 59th minute, bringing on Macoumba Kandji for Rojas, and it almost paid immediate dividends. Borman found Kandji on the left wing and Kandji slipped it to forward John Wolyniec in the penalty box. Wolyniec one-timed it with his left-foot off the left post before the Crew was able to steer it away.

New York took the lead in the 63rd minute off a remarkable Richards run. Off a short Columbus corner, Frankie Hejduk tried to put it into the box, but ball took a favorable deflection off Red Bulls midfielder Seth Stammler as Richards sped onto it with the Crew's Brian Carroll as the last defender. Richards took it 50 yards, juked around Carroll and hit a low shot past goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum for his third goal of the season.

Columbus almost immediately answered when Eddie Gaven hit a bouncing shot towards goal but defender Andrew Boyens was there to head it away. With less than 13 minutes left, an Ekpo free kick found Eric Brunner at the back post and the defender directed it past the net. In the 82nd minute, an Alejandro Moreno flick on from an Ekpo delivery was caught by Coundoul.

New York is now 8-0-3 in their last 11 against Columbus at Giants Stadium, with the Crew's last victory at the Meadowlands coming on April 12, 2003. The Red Bulls dropped Columbus to just their second League loss in 19 games and broke the Crew's five-game winning streak and eight-game unbeaten run.

Midfielder Albert Celades missed the match due to a left calf strain while defender Kevin Goldthwaite, who was already suspended for the match, underwent hernia surgery last Friday.

Check out the New York Red Bulls Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from September 7, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central