and he struck for a pair of goals within a three-minute span. First, in the 15th minute, his pace allowed him to strip a defender of the ball and he cut into the area before slotting home a left-footed shot.
• Then in the 17th, Dave van den Bergh -- playing on the right flank in his first meeting against his former club -- swung in a cross that Cunningham slipped between defenders to get onto the end of, knocking a low volley into the goal. It was Cunningham's first two-goal game since Sept. 21, 2008 at Chicago and gave him 107 for his MLS career, one behind Jason Kreis for third on the all-time list.
• The Red Bulls were able to pull a goal back two minutes before the break. Jorge Rojas found an overlapping Danleigh Borman on the left and he played a quick ball into Juan Pablo Angel in the six-yard box, who was able to get his first-time shot past FCD 'keeper Ray Burse.
• FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman made one change to the team that played to a 1-1 draw in Colorado on June 24. With Kenny Cooper away on Gold Cup duty, Brek Shea came in on the left of a rebuilt midfield.
• Here's Hyndman's team (4-1-4-1): Ray Burse - Drew Moor, Kyle Davies, Pablo Ricchetti, Anthony Wallace (Blake Wagner 46) - Dax McCarty - Dave van den Bergh, David Ferreira, Andre Rocha (Eric Avila 65), Brek Shea (George John 84) - Jeff Cunningham. Substitutes Not Used: Michael Dello-Russo, Bruno Guarda, Josh Lambo
• Here's Osorio's team (4-4-1-1): Danny Cepero - Danleigh Borman (Khano Smith 49), Andrew Boyens (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 46), Mike Petke, Jeremy Hall - Nick Zimmerman (John Wolyniec 80), Luke Sassano, Seth Stammler, Matthew Mbuta - Jorge Rojas - Juan Pablo Angel. Substitutes Not Used: Bouna Coundoul
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls went down to defeat for the 11th time in 12 league games, falling 2-0 to Chivas USA at Giants Stadium on Saturday evening. The Red Bulls have 10 points from 22 matches on the season, sitting in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, 29 points off the pace of the joint MLS overall leaders Columbus Crew.
LAST MATCH
• Chivas USA made their third consecutive road appearance riding a five-game losing run, winless in nine games in all competitions. The Red Bulls were opening a five-game homestand having also lost five in a row and winless in their last 15 games in all competitions.
• It took the visitors just 14 minutes to take the lead. Bojan Stepanovic freed Chukwudi Chijindu on the right, and his long crossfield pass found Maykel Galindo racing into the area on the left. Galindo hammered a left-footed shot inside the near post for his third goal of the season, putting an end to Chivas USA's club-record 336-minute scoreless streak.
• Deep into second-half stoppage time, Chivas finished off the game. Gerson Mayen freed Michael Lahoud down the right, and he raced into the New York penalty area before sliding a pass to a wide-open Eduardo Lillingston, who had the simplest of finishes into an empty net for his seventh goal on the season.
• The loss extended the Red Bulls league winless mark to 13 games, a club record.
• Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio made six changes to the team that lost 4-0 to the Colorado Rapids the week before. Carlos Johnson and Kevin Goldthwaite came into the back four, Seth Stammler, Albert Celades and Ernst Oebster came into the midfield and John Wolyniec started up top. Out were Leo Krupnik, Alfredo Pacheco, Sinisa Ubiparipovic and the injured Macoumba Kandji, Jorge Rojas and Juan Pablo Angel.
• Here's Osorio's team (4-1-4-1): Bouna Coundoul - Carlos Johnson (Danleigh Borman 46), Kevin Goldthwaite, Mike Petke, Jeremy Hall - Seth Stammler - Dane Richards, Luke Sassano (Matthew Mbuta 80), Albert Celades (Nick Zimmerman 35), Ernst Oebster - John Wolyniec. Substitutes Not Used: Andrew Boyens, Danny Cepero, Leo Krupnik, Alfredo Pacheco
TEAM NEWS
• The Red Bulls' last victory of any sort came May 8, a 4-1 win against the San Jose Earthquakes at Giants Stadium where all four goals came in the opening 45 minutes.
• "[A]t the end of the day the players have to play the games themselves and I think it was ... you could tell that there is a lot of pressure, they are very hesitant and they just don't play the game that they could play; they are panicking at times," Osorio said. "There is no reason for that, it is very difficult but they have to find a way on their own because I think I am running out of words myself."
• After facing some severe injury woes without captain Juan Pablo Angel (concussion), Mac Kandji (strained hamstring) and Jorge Rojas (right calf strain), more came during the match when Albert Celades was forced off early in the second half with a back contusion, and worse, Costa Rican international defender Carlos Johnson was able to play only 45 minutes after making his return following three months out with a foot fracture.
• "I think Carlos was one player I really thought from the go would be good in this league because of his competitiveness and his physicality," Osorio said. "It's just very unfortunate. He comes back and he's doing OK and then he gets hurt again. We have to reshuffle the whole backline. It's just one bad thing after the other."
• The New York club record losing streak matches the previous winless mark, set in 1999 during the shootout era. However, the then-MetroStars lost nine consecutive games in regulation time from July 4-Aug. 21, before losing two in a row via the post-match decider, then one more in regulation before finally ending the streak.
• "To be honest and not joking, I haven't lost this many games in my whole career. It's frustrating. I can't remember the last time we won a game, so it's pretty frustrating especially coming after Maryland when we won most of our games. We only lost a few times all year. To lose this many times is very frustrating," said rookie defender Jeremy Hall.
• Said Dane Richards: "Everybody can tell, 'Here we go again.' You can see the confidence drop. We were fighting, but you could see the confidence drop every time we gave up a goal. Win. That's the big three letter word right now, win. We have to find a way to do it. For diehard Red Bulls fans and for our pride, we have to do it."
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas saw their first winning streak of the season come to a sudden end, falling 2-0 to the Columbus Crew on Saturday evening at Crew Stadium. FCD has 23 points from 21 matches, still in seventh place in the Western Conference, 16 points behind division leaders Houston Dynamo.
LAST MATCH
• The Crew came in riding a seven-game unbeaten run in league play and had lost just once since the first week of April. FC Dallas had recorded back-to-back shutout wins against Kansas City and Houston and had exploded for nine goals in three games.
• But the Crew took the lead after just 10 minutes, again through a familiar target. With Guillermo Barros Schelotto was still out of the lineup, Robbie Rogers swung in a corner from the right and Chad Marshall powered home a header for his fourth goal on the campaign.
• The Crew put the game away in the 87th minute. Taking the ball in his half of the center circle, Eddie Gaven set forth on a long dribbling run and wasn't challenged until reaching the FCD penalty area, where he stroked a low shot inside the left corner for his fourth goal on the year.
• It was a third consecutive shutout for Crew goalkeeper William Hesmer, who saw his team extend its undefeated streak in Columbus to a league record 20 games.
• FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman made one change to the team that defeated the Houston Dynamo 1-0 the week before at home. Daniel Torres came back in at center back in place of the suspended Pablo Ricchetti.
• Here's Hyndman's team (4-4-1-1): Dario Sala - Drew Moor, Kyle Davies, Daniel Torres, Jair Benitez - Atiba Harris, Dax McCarty, Dave van den Bergh (Blake Wagner 74), Brek Shea (Andre Rocha 63) - David Ferreira - Jeff Cunningham. Substitutes Not Used: Eric Avila, Ray Burse, Bruno Guarda, Peri Marosevic, Steve Purdy
TEAM NEWS
• After posting back-to-back shutouts for the first time this season, FC Dallas was blanked itself for the second time in five games.
• "The last couple of weeks we've had some good results and some belief in this locker room. We had some belief tonight until the 88th minute when they were able to steal a late one," defender Drew Moor said. "It was a good effort. At the end of the day it's tough to give away an early goal like that against a team that defends really well. They're very athletic, very strong in the back. They made it difficult for us. Commitment-wise everyone was in it for 90 minutes. It could have gone either way so it's a tough one to swallow."
• Jeff Cunningham saw his three-game goal scoring streak come to an end, with seven goals in that time. Eight of his nine goals have come since Kenny Cooper played his last game for FC Dallas, June 24 vs. Colorado, with U.S. national team duty followed by his transfer. Cunningham still has 113 career goals to rank third in MLS history, one behind Chivas USA's Ante Razov.
• "Chad (Marshall) and the back four did a great job tonight and limited my chances. I had two good looks. The 'keeper made a good save on one of them," Cunningham said. "This was a good test for us. It's a little disappointment. We talked about some things but we didn't execute. We didn't play our best."
• The Crew match marked the third time Dave van den Bergh has figured in a central midfield role, and while it was the first loss in that stretch, FCD coach Schellas Hyndman has been pleased with the change. Van den Bergh and underneath forward David Ferreira have been the only two players to start every game this season for FC Dallas, the club's two main offseason acquisitions.
• "Dave and David have been great, especially since I've gotten Dave into the middle where he can get more touches on the ball. Dave and David have been the only two that have started the whole year. I think they have been part of our glue of people we can count on. They know their roles and they do it," Hyndman said.
• Sitting nine points out of the automatic playoff spots in the Western Conference, and seven points off of the top eight in the standings, FCD now faces three of its next four games on the road, where the club has won just once in 10 outings (with two draws) this season.
• "We are convinced we can do better than this," defender Daniel Torres said. "There's still a chance to make the playoffs. That's our main goal. It's about still fighting and that's what we're going to do."
