From the opening whistle it was apparent which team was looking for a win and which team was just hoping to stay alive. New York's travel caught up to them, as did their extensive injury list, and RSL took full advantage. Even after the early spell where it seemed possession was 70% RSL, New York never settled into the game. RSL was always a threat, New York looked lost once they got the ball past midfield. The first RSL goal came off of hard work and relentless pressure on the New York back-line. Beckerman whipped in a ball that bounced out to Andy Williams on the top of the 18. Instead of taking the route that RSL has far too often this year and make a back pass, Andy tried his luck with a shot to the far post. The New York keeper did well to push it away and out of bounds for another RSL corner. This was key. Had Andy decided to hold up or not test his luck, we likely don't get that subsequent corner; which Borchers put away. Some terrible marking from the US wonder-kid Tim Ream left Borchers wide open on the 6. His downward powerful header hit the back of the net before Rost could even make a move.
The second RSL goal came from a type of play we really haven't seen much this year. Our midfield, with the loss of Morales, has lacked that ability to get in behind players in the middle of the pitch. We typically don't even attempt to probe in the middle part of the field because we don't have the work rate or technical ability that Javi brought. Gil changed that, though, in this game. His quick turn in the middle was beautiful and the strike on goal was to match. While Rost may have been a bit shielded from the shot, it would have been hard for him to keep it out even if he did. The ball found the side netting, putting RSL up 2-0 right before half. Good teams, it is always said, tend to score goals at key moments in the game. Any goal within the last 5 minutes of a half is key.
The second half was not that much different from the first. New York emptied their bench rather quickly because of injuries, sadly, and all but sealed the deal by doing so. They have nothing off the bench, right now at least, that can change the game dramatically. RSL continued to pressure and was awarded a really soft penalty. New York has room to complain, but the goal ultimately was pointless. Sure, it might hurt/help the teams in terms of goal differential come seasons end, but the result was all but determined. Sabo stepped up and calmly put the penalty away and the game was officially out of reach. A good result from the team, and a solid performance that didn't feature a 10 minute spell, like in the previous two matches, where we completely lost focus. The team played the whole game through and should be proud of the way they did.
Man of the Match: Nat Borchers
I was really tempted to give this to Luis Gil for his solid effort on the night along with his first ever RSL goal. However, I had to be honest with myself. Borchers not only got the game winning goal, but had the Henry assignment all night. Henry had a rather quiet night, given his standards, and that's largely to do with the way Borchers defended him. Consistent Nat finally got some recognition from me...
Wanker of the Match: The New York Red Bulls
A team with that much talent, even if it is just reserved to the starting XI, should play a whole lot better than they did. Yeah, they travelled and have been experiencing injury problems, but the fact remains that they looked awful. They have been so bad this year, in fact, that as of this moment (by points per game) they are out of the playoffs. Incredible when you consider 10 teams get in this year. A team of that much skill deserves a whole lot better than players like Dax McCarty and Mehdi Bollouchy in the middle. The Dero trade looks more and more awful each day.
The Road Gauntlet Begins:
The true test of where this team is at now begins. The next 3 matches for RSL are all away from home. They are, however, at mediocre teams. The next game is against possibly the worst team in the league, Toronto FC. They managed to tie a game 3-3 against DC over the weekend despite having a man advantage from the 7th minute on. This game, on paper, looks incredibly winnable for RSL. We did it last year in CCL, so we know the team is capable of doing so. The game following that is at Houston, probably the toughest opponent of the next three. Lastly, we travel to Chivas for the last game of August. This game should be one of revenge. I don't care if it was one players stupid actions, he represents Chivas USA. He took Javi away from us for quite some time, we owe it to them to beat the living crap out of them.
Exciting News:
While I don't tend to post stuff that relates to individual players or is outside the actual games this team plays, this was too good to not post. According to the RSL twitter account, Javier Morales was jogging, had his boots laced up, and even kicked the ball around a few times this past week. While the road to recovery for him is likely still two months away, it's incredible news nonetheless. If he is back by the 2 month deadline that has been thrown out there, he could see the pitch as early as October 1st at LA or, maybe even, September 28th vs Chicago. One thing looks certain, though, he should be back for the cRapids road game on October 14th. If you needed any more reasoning to make the trip, now you have it.
FORZA REAL
Cheers,
15 to 32
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