The New York Red Bulls celebrated the dawn of a new era this week with the long-awaited groundbreaking of their new home in Harrison, N.J. But on Saturday night they couldn't quite overcome the ghosts of history as they lost another heartbreaker to their old rivals to the south, falling 4-3 to D.C. United despite holding a man advantage for some 30 minutes.
Amado Guevara scored two goals and set up second-half substitute Josmer Altidore for a third, but it was not enough to overcome an impressive offensive performance from United that left New York's three-man back line cruelly exposed on several occasions.
"There were a lot of good things they did tonight," said Red Bulls head coach Bruce Arena. "They played well for good segments of the game. However, our inexperienced players, when they get tired they break down. They can't think, and they made a number of mistakes that you can attribute to fatigue and inexperience."
Carlos Mendes, who gave up the 10th-minute own goal that opened the scoring for United, echoed his coach's observations as he bemoaned his back line's mental breakdowns.
"It's a lack of concentration," said the center back. "We were a man up and we didn't press as a team. At the back, we didn't press up high enough. We didn't stay organized. We gave up bad goals."
The Red Bulls entered the match narrowly trailing Kansas City for the fourth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot, and their desperate need for points was reflected in a hard-working first-half display that pushed United onto the back foot. Looking quick and energetic, striker Youri Djorkaeff gave D.C.'s back line plenty to think about while Guevara, Dema Kovalenko and recent arrival Markus Schopp led a five-man midfield that generated several chances and limited United's possession.
"Markus played well, and we got more minutes out of him than we thought," said Arena, who was honored along with the rest of United's 1996 MLS Cup-winning side before the match. "We knew we were pushing it, trying to get 60 minutes out of him. But I thought he did a good job."
But the second stanza was a different story as the fatiguing defense had no answer for the craftiness of Jaime Moreno, who came off the bench to inspire D.C.'s resurgence. The Red Bulls seemed poised to gain the upper hand after United defender Facundo Erpen was sent off for an ugly attack on John Wolyniec in the 61st minute, but the back line lost its shape all too easily and the home side's playmakers took advantage.
"I got upset in the second half because I was telling our back line to step up their play," said Arena. "[United] is playing a man short and our back line never moved. [They] would be playing balls into Moreno and Gomez and they'd turn and they'd break us down. We need to be releasing our whole back line. There's no sense in having a back line just standing back there."
The Red Bulls showed character in twice cutting into two-goal deficits, but in the end simply ran out of time.
"We worked, we did what we could, but we're playing against the league leader on their home field," said Guevara. "We're upset about the defeat and our situation. We had some good opportunities at goal. At the beginning of the game, we had two clear chances and we didn't take them - that's the difference."
Still two points adrift of the Wizards with only three regular season matches remaining, the Red Bulls now find themselves with their backs against the wall -- and their task doesn't get much easier with a visit from in-form Chicago next week, followed by a trip to the high altitude of Denver to take on the Colorado Rapids.
"I'll be honest with you. It's likely that this thing is going to go down to the last day," said Arena. "We hope we can get better. I think we've improved. We're actually improving in every game. Even though we don't have the results, we're improving. But there's no point in saying we're improving -- we need to get points."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
