E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. - John Wolyniec came back to haunt his one-time club with a first-half goal, and Clint Mathis, Juan Pablo Angel and debutant Sal Caccavale tallied in the second half as the New York Red Bulls defeated the visiting Columbus Crew 4-0 on Saturday night at a soggy Giants Stadium.
New York got the only strike it needed in the 17th minute, when rookie right winger Dane Richards picked up a loose ball inside the Crew's half and played a quick give-and-go with Angel. Angel found the speedy Richards behind Columbus left back Rusty Pierce on the right side, and the Jamaican sent an inch-perfect cross to a streaking Wolyniec, who slid to tap the ball home at the far post.
Despite trailing at the break, Columbus actually had the better of the first-half chances. The Crew repeatedly attacked the down right side, with captain Frankie Hejduk and recent signing Guillermo Barros Schelotto working on Red Bulls left back Todd Dunivant.
The pressure paid off in the form of five corner kicks during the opening 45 minutes, but the Black & Gold couldn't convert any of them. Their best opportunity came off of a Schelotto dead ball that Red Bulls 'keeper Jon Conway grabbed off the head of Alejandro Moreno in the ninth minute.
Columbus midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi's gaffe in the 13th minute nearly put the Red Bulls on the board before Wolyniec's goal. The former Iona College and St. John's University standout scuffed a clearing attempt at the top of his own penalty area, but the ball caromed off the crossbar after sailing over the head of helpless Crew goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum.
The Crew had two good chances near the end of the opening stanza, but Conway gathered Moreno's flick inside the six-yard box in the 38th minute and dove to his left to push Ned Grabavoy's 20-yard blast around the post three minutes later.
The Red Bulls put the game away with two strikes early in the second half. First, six minutes after the intermission, Wolyniec flicked a Dunivant throw-in from the left side toward Angel at the near post. The ball popped straight up and fell to a lurking Mathis, who nodded home past Gruenebaum on the doorstep.
In the 61st, Angel showed why the Red Bulls worked so hard to sign him. He picked off an errant Marcos Gonzalez pass near the top of the area and finished clinically past Gruenebaum into the far side-netting. It was the former River Plate and Aston Villa hitman's first MLS goal.
Columbus' best chance of the game came on 67th minute free kick by Schelotto. The Argentinean's bending shot took a deflection off the Red Bulls wall, and Conway was relieved to see it skim off the top of the crossbar.
New York put an exclamation point on the victory in stoppage time, when Caccavale found the back of the net off a Sinisa Ubiparipovic assist four minutes into his first league appearance.
With the loss, the Crew fall to 1-2-4 and remain in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, while the Red Bulls kept pace in the Eastern Conference in recording their fifth shutout already this season.
Doug McIntyre is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
