HARRISON, N.J. – The New York Red Bulls bounced back in a big way, erasing last week’s 4-0 away loss to the LA Galaxy by picking up three points that head coach Mike Petke described as massive.
Still, it all felt secondary to Tim Cahill’s actions on Saturday night.
The Red Bulls used a 47th-minute goal from Thierry Henry to pick up a 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo in an Eastern Conference showdown full of postseason implications. But a lot of the talk before the game and during a chunk of the second half was about Cahill.
The Australian Designated Player became a major point of discussion after saying on Friday that he had no real issue with leaving the Red Bulls right now for international duty.
He also spoke about the possibility of being benched, which materialized on Saturday before he came into the game for a late second-half cameo that was short-lived. Cahill was ejected with a straight red card in the 85th minute, three minutes after coming on, for a hard tackle on Boniek Garcia.
New York finished the match with a man disadvantage, but held on for the win. Afterward, Petke did not really address the tackle itself, but briefly discussed Cahill’s current standing as a reserve player before refusing to comment further.
“I put the selection process as the coach, which, the last time I checked, I make the decisions and I’m allowed to make the decisions,” said Petke. “The selection process for tonight’s game went as this: I wanted to put the 11 players out that I felt could get us a result, and we got a result.”
Petke, who could only stare at the skies as the 34-year-old midfielder was sent off, also shot down the notion that Cahill’s benching was punishment for his decision to leave for a pair of friendlies with Australia.
Cahill was not present in the locker room postgame to speak to media members about the play. His teammates did, however, and they were torn on whether it was a harsh call or not from match official Jair Marrufo.
“I don’t know, I have to look at the replay, [but] it looked like a fair red card to me,” said midfielder Dax McCarty. “It looked like he went over the ball a little bit. I think he was just trying to win it, just mistimed the tackle, but if you go in with two feet, studs up, don’t get much of the ball, you’re just asking to get sent off.
“I have to look at it again to make sure he didn’t get the ball, but it looked like a red card to me.”
Added goalkeeper Luis Robles: “He went in, felt like a 50-50 ball, very strong, which I think he has every right to. But I’d have to see the replay to know if it was justifiable.”
The resulting suspension – which cannot be served while Cahill is on international duty – means the veteran will not be able to suit up again for the Red Bulls until their season finale at Sporting Kansas City on Oct. 22. But the dismissal was hardly the only interesting moment involving Cahill on Saturday.
He went to warm up with the rest of the reserves early into the second half, then oddly returned to the bench by his lonesome. He sat there for a while until he returned to the corner flag where the back-ups do their drills to prepare for his insertion into the match. Then, he was sent off shortly thereafter.
It all threatened to overshadow what was a much-needed win for New York. But Petke almost wanted no part in talking at length about Cahill’s actions.
“We won 1-0 in a massive game tonight,” said Petke. “It’s become a big story, but it’s not. It’s not a big story.
“The story tonight is a 1-0 win and guys that worked hard for it.”
Franco Panizo covers the New York Red Bulls for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached by email at Franco8813@gmail.com.
