KANSAS CITY WIZARDS v NEW YORK RED BULLS
ARROWHEAD STADIUM, Kansas City, Mo.
7 p.m. CT (MetroSports; MSG)
June 2, 2007 (WEEK 9) / MLS Game #56
An intriguing battle for the top of the Eastern Conference is in store as the Kansas City Wizards play host to the New York Red Bulls at Arrowhead Stadium. Sporting the league's best defensive performance, allowing just half a goal per game, the Red Bulls also have the league's best overall record and are coming off a pair of heavy shutout victories. The Wizards boast one of the league's most potent attacks and are just a point off the pace in the East, coming off an impressive victory of their own, a 4-3 win in New England against a team riding a lengthy unbeaten run and, at the time, the league's best record.
REFEREE: Jair Marrufo. SAR (bench): Anthony Vasoli; JAR (opposite): Kyle Borne; 4th: Ramon Hernandez
MLS Career: 55 games; FC/gm: 29.5; Y/gm: 3.5; R: 12; pens: 22
Games involving Wizards: P2 W1 L0 T1; FC/gm: 30.0; Y/gm: 3.5; R: 0; pens: 0
Games involving Red Bulls: P10 W4 L3 T3; FC/gm: 33.1; Y/gm: 3.9; R: 2; pens: 4
INJURY REPORT: KANSAS CITY WIZARDS - OUT: DF Matt Groenwald (blood clots); MF Ryan McMahen (torn ACL); DOUBTFUL: DF Nick Garcia (abdominal strain); DF Jose Burciaga (shoulder sprain); DF Aaron Hohlbein (hamstring strain); MF Lance Watson (hamstring strain); QUESTIONABLE: DF Jimmy Conrad (hamstring strain); FW Scott Sealy (ankle sprain); PROBABLE: MF Davy Arnaud (quadricep strain); MF Kerry Zavagnin (groin strain) ... NEW YORK RED BULLS - OUT: DF Hunter Freeman (L ankle sprain); FW Mike Magee (R knee surgery recovery); MF Blake Camp (L ankle sprain); QUESTIONABLE: GK Ronald Waterreus (L ankle sprain); DF Todd Dunivant (L quadriceps strain); PROBABLE: MF Claudio Reyna (R groin strain)
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: KC: Jose Burciaga Jr. ... NY: Jozy Altidore
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (32 meetings): Wizards 12 wins (2 shootout), 42 goals ... Red Bulls 13 wins (2 shootout), 40 goals ... Draws 7
AT KANSAS CITY: (18 meetings): Wizards 10 wins (2 shootout), 28 goals ... Red Bulls 6 wins (1 shootout), 19 goals ... Draws 2
• This is the first of three meetings between the teams this season, the only set for Arrowhead Stadium this season - and for the Wizards, the first of a home-and-home series. The Red Bulls play twice before their next meeting, June 16 at Giants Stadium (the Wizards have the next two weeks off); the season series concludes Oct. 13 at the Meadowlands.
LAST YEAR (MLS):
6/3: KC 1, NY 1 (Burciaga 58 - Henderson 30)
7/22: NY 1, KC 0 (Magee 25)
8/30: KC 2, NY 2 (Sealy 28; Wolff 71 - Wolyniec 30; Dunivant 53)
10/14: NY 3, KC 2 (Guevara 31, 60, 75 - van den Bergh 23, Sealy 83)
• A year ago, the Red Bulls won the season series, winning both games at Giants Stadium while playing to draws in both games at Arrowhead Stadium. The teams met on the final day of the season with the winner securing a place in the MLS Cup Playoffs; New York claimed the fourth spot from the Eastern Conference behind an Amado Guevara hat trick.
• The Wizards haven't won in East Rutherford since April 19, 2000, a span of nine matches. Since that 2-1 K.C. win, the New York team has won four matches, with five played to draws.
• Kansas City's last home win in the series came four meetings ago, May 25, 2005. The MetroStars won the second meeting that season in Missouri, then came the two draws of a season ago. That win was also the Wizards last in the series, a span of six matches now without a K.C. victory.
• Coaches record: Curt Onalfo vs. NY: first game ... Bruce Arena v KC: P10 W4 L5 D1
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The Kansas City Wizards went to Gillette Stadium on Saturday and came away with their first victory in three matches, an impressive 4-3 win against the league's top team, the New England Revolution. The Wizards remain in third place in the Eastern Conference but have now pulled to within a point of the top spot with 16 points from eight matches, one behind the Revolution and the New York Red Bulls.
LAST MATCH
• The Revolution came into the match with three wins on the trot, the last two coming at home, while the Wizards had three wins and a draw in their last five games. Against a makeshift Kansas City rearguard, missing three regular starters, the Revolution took an early lead through MLS ironman Steve Ralston. He took an Andy Dorman in the right side of the penalty area, and while K.C. 'keeper Kevin Hartman parried his first attempt, Ralston was able to latch onto the rebound and drive it back home (11).
• But then the game exploded with three goals in rapid-fire fashion. Taylor Twellman doubled the New England lead in the 23rd minute, getting the ball near the halfway line and making his way toward the Wizards goal. From well outside the area he let loose, his shot taking a slight deflection as it looped high over Hartman.
• The lead lasted just two minutes. Sasha Victorine swung in a high early cross from the left touchline that split a pair of defenders and found Davy Arnaud, who brought the ball down and fired home. Then just a minute later, a poor ball was intercepted by Jack Jewsbury, who dropped in a perfect pass to Johnson. He turned and fired past Revolution 'keeper Matt Reis to pull the visitors level.
• The three goals in three minutes was a minute shy of the MLS record, set in 2000 when the Miami Fusion and MetroStars contrived to score three goals in a two-minute span, and in 2003 when D.C. United scored three goals in two minutes of stoppage time against the Revolution at Gillette Stadium. It was the 10th time in MLS history three goals were scored in a three-minute gap.
• Johnson then put the Wizards into the lead in the 37th minute with his second goal of the game, taking a long pass and sliding sideways across the top of the area before lashing home a low shot.
• The Revolution got back to level in the 69th minute when Shalrie Joseph converted from the spot after Jewsbury was adjudged to have handled a cross. But Johnson gave the Wizards the win with his 82nd-minute finish, racing onto a looping ball over the top by Carlos Marinelli before calmly rounding Reis and sliding the ball home.
• Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo was missing three-quarters of his first-choice defense, with Jimmy Conrad, Nick Garcia and Jose Burciaga Jr. all out to injury. Aaron Hohlbein and Tyson Wahl came into central defense while Kurt Morsink made his first MLS start in midfield as Michael Harrington moved to left back. As well, Ryan Pore came in for Yura Movsisyan in attack.
• Here Onalfo's team (4-1-3-2): Kevin Hartman - Jack Jewsbury, Aaron Hohlbein, Tyson Wahl, Michael Harrington - Kerry Zavagnin - Davy Arnaud, Kurt Morsink (Ryan Raybould 70), Sasha Victorine - Eddie Johnson, Ryan Pore (Carlos Marinelli 61). Substitutes Not Used: Willy Guadarrama, Will John, Eric Kronberg, Yura Movsisyan, Lance Watson
• "I was really pleased with our performance even though we were down 2-0. To our guys' credit they did a great job regrouping, getting the first one back, getting the second one back and the third. And then we found a way to win the game in the end," Onalfo said.
TEAM NEWS
• Missing three starters in the back gave Onalfo some selection questions heading into the match, and the injury list is still lengthy. "We feel like we have a pretty deep team. When we have guys who go down, we know we have other guys who can step up and get the job done. And those guys certainly did tonight," said Davy Arnaud.
• Johnson's first career hat trick came in his 111th career league appearance. It was the fourth hat trick in Kansas City Wizards history, the first since Davy Arnaud's triple against Dallas on July 3, 2004.
• "I couldn't have asked for my first hat trick against a better team. This team is at the top of the league and has been playing extremely well. I knew it would be tough and just stayed into it mentally. When I got my chances, I just made the best of them," Johnson said.
• A key to the Wizards' unlocking of the Revolution defense was in the way Johnson and Pore attacked the New England 3-5-2 scheme. "We knew the game was going to open up in the second half. Our team matches up well with a 3-5-2, really well, because we've got a lot of speed going forward. We knew there was going to be a lot of space out wide," Johnson said. "We talked all week about where those spaces were and how we could use them. Curt's done a great job of finding those spaces on the field."
• Said Onalfo: "We did well tactically against the 3-5-2," Onalfo said. "We were winning the ball farther up the field and that allowed us to exploit the space on the wings."
• Onalfo was also helped when Carlos Marinelli came on for the final half hour, a second consecutive substitute appearance after missing two games through a hamstring injury. Marinelli's curled pass sent Johnson through for the game-winner. "It was a great ball from Carlos," Johnson said. "He's one of the best midfield players I've ever played with."
• "Carlos helped us tonight," Onalfo said. "We have a lot of young players, and he came in and settled things down. It's just beautiful to watch him play. He's the kind of player the league needs."
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls recorded their second consecutive shutout rout in their last match on MLS Primetime Thursday, defeating the Chicago Fire 3-0 at Giants Stadium. The Red Bulls moved into a tie for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with 17 points from eight matches, level with the New England Revolution and with a game in hand.
LAST MATCH
• The Fire were coming off a 2-1 home defeat to FC Dallas after losing back-to-back games on the road, while the Red Bulls put an end to a brief two-game winless skid with a 4-0 rout of the Columbus Crew at home the previous weekend.
• But it didn't take long for the Red Bulls to all but finish off the game. A long ball from the right found Juan Pablo Angel, and he quickly knocked it square to John Wolyniec. With his back to goal, he laid it off for Jozy Altidore, and the 17-year-old slammed it into the back of the net to give the home side the lead after just 55 seconds. It was the fastest goal in New York club history.
• Then barely two minutes later, a cross came in from the right and was only half-cleared. Angel brought it down well and ripped a low drive inside the far post to double the New York lead with the game in just its third minute.
• The goals tied an MLS record for the two fastest goals scored at the start of the game. D.C. United did it in a 4-2 win against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Aug. 9, 1997 and the Galaxy scored twice in the opening three minutes in a 4-4 tie with the Tampa Bay Mutiny, May 9, 2001.
• While the Fire came back into the game over the remainder of the first half, the Red Bulls put the game away at the three-quarter mark. From sustained pressure off a corner kick, a Seth Stammler cross was met by Taylor Graham, who knocked back into the mixer. A sublime first touch from Angel wrong-footed a defender and the Colombian toe-poked it home from close range for his fourth goal in three games in all competitions for N.Y.
• Hit by injuries of his own, Red Bulls head coach Bruce Arena made one change to the team that defeated the Crew the weekend before. Todd Dunivant was out to inuury, so Dave van den Bergh moved to left back - with Dema Kovalenko still at right back, it meant two players who started opening day in the midfield were at fullback. Jozy Altidore - nominally a striker - moved into van den Bergh's role wide on the left of midfield.
• Here's Arena's team (4-1-3-2): Jon Conway - Dema Kovalenko, Carlos Mendes, Jeff Parke (Taylor Graham 46), Dave van den Bergh - Seth Stammler - Dane Richards (Markus Schopp 78), Clint Mathis, Jozy Altidore - Juan Pablo Angel, John Wolyniec (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 60). Substitutes Not Used: Sal Caccavale, Danny Cepero, Jerrod Laventure, Tim Regan
• "I think you get lucky once in a while. The start of the game was fabulous," Arena said. " ... The whole team I thought played well for the first 20-25 minutes. I thought the last 20 minutes of the first half we struggled. The first 15 minutes of the second half we took everything Chicago could throw at us. We were able to weather the storm and hang in there. It said some good things about us."
TEAM NEWS
• The injury situation meant Arena had to be inventive in his team selection, with four usual starters out to injury. "We had to piece together a lineup tonight. We are struggling," he said. "We have a shortage of defenders. Some of the injuries take away the continuity of the team and it doesn't allow us to have the flow of the game that we'd like to have. We have to play a little bit better and I think as we get a little healthier we will."
• One of the biggest changes was moving Dave van den Bergh - who Arena has called one of the best left-sided midfielders in the league - to left back. "We did that halfway in training when Todd (Dunivant) felt like he couldn't go today and we had to decide real quick who could play left back," Arena said." Dave said he played it in Spain so we decided to do that rather than move a whole lot of people around."
• The other was moving Jozy Altidore from his usual target forward role to van den Bergh's place on the left of midfield. "I think he was pretty tired but he fought through the second half. The last 15-20 minutes of the first half, he was dead," Arena said. "He hadn't played in the midfield and it's obviously a different fitness. That's why we asked Wolyniec to play there towards the end of the first half to help him out a little but. I thought in the second half he moved better."
• Said Altidore: "I have new respect for that position. On a scale of one to 10 it's a 9.99. It's hard, you're running back and forth, defending, but it was nice to help out the team that way. I'm not used to that running back and forth but the guys helped me out, talking to me the whole game and pushed me through."
• The Red Bulls now haven't allowed a goal in 246 minutes, after opening the season without allowing a goal for an MLS record 420 minutes.
• "We got a clean sheet not playing our best. There was a lot of times in that game when we weren't playing well and Chicago was taking the game to us so we held in there and we got the win. I was pleased with that," Arena said. "... [Jon] Conway was solid. He had to make one or two timely saves when a goal could have given them a little bit of hope."
• Juan Pablo Angel now has four goals in four games in all competitions for the Red Bulls, including three goals in his last two league games.
• "Some classy goals. He played well in some spurts. He's getting to know us and we're getting to know him. The second goal of the game was big and then the third goal was all class," Arena said. "I sat on the bench and said 'He's done that before.' It's nice to have a player with that kind of composure in front of the goal. I don't think he is going to score two goals every game but I think he's a pretty good forward. When we get our full team back together, I think he'll be even better for us."
