Utterly disappointed.
There were few other ways to describe how the New York Red Bulls and their fanbase felt on Wednesday night following a scoreless draw at Salvadoran club FAS that eliminated the MLS club from the CONCACAF Champions League with a game to spare.
The Red Bulls did not have many clear scoring chances in the match in El Salvador, but they had enough to beat an already-eliminated FAS side that was content with trying to hit on the counter. New York’s reserve-filled lineup ultimately failed to capitalize on those few opportunities, and the end result was a second-place finish in Group 3 and a bitter exit from a tournament that should have yielded more from Mike Petke’s side.
“To me, it was a very similar game to the one we played in New York,” said Petke, referencing the Red Bulls’ 2-0 win vs. FAS last month.
“Whereas we had 15-to-20 quality chances at home and only put away two, tonight we had three or four quality chances – the penalty kick, the header at the end, the free kick right outside the box and one more I’m missing – and we just couldn’t put it away. Specifically, the penalty kick haunted us in the end.”
Saër Sène’s skied spot kick in the first half definitely hurt the Red Bulls, but so too did the fact that they trotted out a lineup comprised of mostly backups for the second straight Champions League match.
Yes, starters Dax McCarty, Lloyd Sam, Chris Duvall and Ambroise Oyongo were out there from the opening whistle. But a chunk of the heavy artillery was left back at home, a move that came into question because of the team’s inability to produce three points against an inferior opponent.
“Thierry Henry? Injury. Tim Cahill? Injury. Bradley Wright-Phillips? Injury. Luis Robles, the goalie? Giving birth to his second baby, tomorrow, I think,” said Petke when asked about leaving his stars at home. “Who else? That’s it. We brought everybody who was healthy. Twenty-one players.”
That left it up to the reserves, who were not up to the job.
“It was pretty disappointing,” said rookie Eric Stevenson, who was inserted into the game in the first half when Sam suffered right hamstring tightness. “I think all of us are not very happy with the result. I thought that we had better possession, the better of the chances, and it was just one of those where we didn’t put the ball in the back of the net.”
New York has one final CCL game left, on Oct. 22 against the Montreal Impact at Red Bull Arena. Though the Impact are already through to the quarterfinals, the game will likely have significant seeding implications for Montreal.
