After two disheartening road losses against Eastern Conference foes, the New York Red Bulls needed three points in the worst way from their game against the Chicago Fire on Saturday night at Giants Stadium.
And thanks to Juan Pablo Angel, that's exactly what the Red Bulls got. The Colombian international scored his 14th goal of the year in the 75th minute to lift the Red Bulls to a 1-0 victory against the previous red-hot Fire.
Dane Richards started off the play by fending off a tackle and sliding the ball to Angel on the left side of the box. Angel received the ball just inside the penalty area and beat Chicago goalkeeper Matt Pickens from 15 yards out for the game's lone goal. It tied Angel, for the moment, with D.C.'s Luciano Emilio and Kansas City's Eddie Johnson for the lead in the MLS Golden Boot.
Angel also became the first New York player to score 14 goals in a season since Adolfo Valencia in 2000.
Clint Mathis, who was honored before the game for breaking the club record for all-time goals, nearly added his 46th career goal five minutes into the game as the Red Bulls got off to a quick start. But his first-time shot off a Pickens clearance from the right side of the box sailed wide of the net.
New York's John Wolyniec took a pass from Seth Stammler and turned towards goal, but his shot from 22 yards out went wide to Pickens' right in the 12th minute.
Then on 23 minutes, Claudio Reyna flicked on a cross from Dane Richards that Mathis latched on to, but his left-footed shot went wide of the target.
Cuauhtémoc Blanco came into the match with two goals and four assists in five MLS matches and it was evident from the outset that the Red Bulls plan was to be physical with the Mexican international.
Joe Vide was booked by Vaughn for a slide tackle in the middle of the field in the 27th minute. Jeff Parke also bumped Blanco in the first half and the forward went down after a push from Stammler, although it appeared Blanco made a bit of a meal out of that.
Following Vaughn's advantage call after Vide's challenge, Blanco nearly scored the game's first goal, but after taking a step past Vide, his attempted chip was saved easily by Ronald Waterreus.
With red-hot striker Jozy Altidore ruled out with a lower left leg injury, Bruce Arena used his 23rd different lineup this season. Waterreus replaced Jon Conway in goal and the Red Bulls went with a backline of Parke and Stammler centrally, with van den Bergh and Leitch out wide. Claudio Reyna and Joe Vide played centrally in the midfield with Dane Richards on the right and Mathis on the left. Angel and Wolyniec played up top.
Fire head coach Juan Carlos Osorio showed a tactical change, playing a 4-4-2 system with Chris Rolfe as an attacking wide midfielder on the right and Blanco as a second forward, playing underneath Costa Rican international Paulo Wanchope.
Arena made his first change in the 63rd minute, bringing on recently signed Liberian Francis Doe for Wolyniec. Six minutes later, Mike Magee came on for Vide and Carlos Mendes replaced Mathis one minute from full time for Arena's last change.
After Angel netted the go-ahead goal with a quarter-hour to go, Chicago had a legitimate appeal for a handball in the 83rd minute when a clearance from Mathis hit the arm of Chris Leitch in the center of the penalty area. But referee Terry Vaughn looked the other way.
A minute later, though, Vaughn did book Richards, who will miss the Red Bulls' next match at Chivas USA because of yellow card accumulation.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
