BRADENTON, Fla. - Second-half goals by forward Jozy Altidore and midfielder Ansu Toure lifted the Red Bulls past D.C. United 2-1 in a 90-minute scrimmage played at the IMG Academy on Wednesday. The Red Bulls are now 3-0-0 in preseason matches.
After a chip from Christian Gomez put United up 1-0 before halftime, Altidore pounced on a D.C. miscue in the back and slotted in his first goal of the preseason. Later, Toure put the Red Bulls up for good after he completed a fantastic passing sequence that was started by forward Jerrod Laventure.
"I think it's a good exercise for our guys, specifically looking at our shape and understanding and getting to know each other more," said assistant coach John Harkes. "There are a lot of new players and when you make changes, it takes time to jell."
D.C., which has trained for a longer period of time than New York because of their upcoming CONCACAF Champions' Cup matchup, took the brunt of the possession early in the match. In the 17th minute, Jaime Moreno almost created a solid scoring opportunity when he slipped into the left side of the penalty box before delivering a dangerous low cross that New York midfielder Seth Stammler was able to poke out.
The Red Bulls did generate a few scoring chances during the first half of play. In the 27th minute, midfielder Dema Kovalenko played a low ball into the near post that forward John Wolyniec almost got his head on. Three minutes later, a counterattack started by defender Marvell Wynne put United on their heels but nothing came of the chance.
In the 39th minute, D.C. scored first. Moreno was able to gather the ball in midfield, turned, and played a through pass to Gomez. With goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus off his line, Gomez chipped it over the 'keeper and into the back of the net. Gomez almost made it 2-0 when his flick off a low cross just went over the bar a minute before the break.
While D.C. kept most of their starters on for the second half, New York changed the entire lineup and eight minutes in, the Red Bulls tied the match. A mix up with D.C. goalkeeper Jay Nolly enabled Altidore to pick up the ball and from 20 yards out and loft it into the back of the net.
The Red Bulls went ahead in the 62nd minute. Laventure took the ball away in D.C.'s defensive third and made a run to the right wing before cutting it back to an open Sinisa Ubiparipovic in the box. Instead of shooting, Ubiparipovic passed it over to Toure, who tapped in from six yards out.
"Having seen other guys come out and stand out and make some good contributions to the game in the second half was really good," Harkes said.
New York almost extended its lead two minutes later. Midfielder Dane Richards latched onto a perfectly placed long ball by defender Joe Vide. Richards beat his defender and took a shot that deflected off Nolly and slammed off the right post.
United, who only made a couple of changes at halftime and switched their entire lineup in the 70th minute, had a few chances to equalize. In the 68th minute, forward Luciano Emilio crossed the ball to an open Moreno in the penalty box, but the forward could not connect cleanly.
Forward Jamil Walker also had a couple of chances with less than 15 minutes left in the game. First, he was able to dribble past goalkeeper Jon Conway but was unable to get a shot off. Then, Walker was able to get his head on a cross in the 83rd minute, but Conway pushed the attempt over the bar.
"Obviously, D.C. United is way ahead of us in terms of fitness. They started earlier to prepare for their games," Harkes said. "It's a good measuring stick for us to see what we need to adjust and I think [head coach] Bruce [Arena] is pretty happy with some of the individual performances."
The next match for the Red Bulls is on Friday, when they take on the reigning MLS Cup champions Houston Dynamo at 6 p.m. ET at the Disney Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
New York Lineup (First Half):
Ronald Waterreus, Todd Dunivant, Carlos Mendes, Jeff Parke, Marvell Wynne, Seth Stammler, Dave van den Bergh, Dema Kovalenko, Claudio Reyna, Markus Schopp, John Wolyniec
New York Lineup (Second Half):
Jon Conway, Eric Denton, Marcel Mahouve, Hugh MacDonald, Joe Vide, Ansu Toure, Sal Caccavale, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Dane Richards, Jozy Altidore, Jerrod Laventure
D.C. United Lineup:
Troy Perkins (Nolly-46); Facundo Erpen (John Wilson-70), Bobby Boswell (Jay Needham-70), Bryan Namoff (Devon McTavish-70); Ben Olsen (Kasali Casal-70), Brian Carroll (Stephen deRoux-70), Clyde Simms (Jeff Carroll-70), Christian Gomez (Rod Dyachenko-70), Josh Gros (Brian Arguez-70); Jaime Moreno (Jamil Walker-70), Luciano Emilio (Guy-Roland Kpene-70).
Scoring Summary:
DC - Gomez (Moreno) 39
NY - Altidore 1 (unassisted) 53
NY - Toure 1 (Ubiparipovic 1, Laventure 1) 62
