HARRISON, N.J. – In thoroughly dismantling FC Dallas 4-0 on Friday night, the New York Red Bulls finally looked like a dominant outfit, maybe even one that resembles the Supporters' Shield winners from last year.
But while coach Jesse Marsch and his players weren’t making any proclamations after the win, they were happy to look forward.
“I believe in things that are real and I look at this team and I know that it’s real,” Marsch said after the game. “Yeah, we haven’t gotten breaks and we gave away too many goals. There were moments when we were rattled a little bit in the beginning parts of the season, but again, I think we used that to strengthen us.”
Nine games into the season the Red Bulls finally have a blowout win and a clean sheet to their credit.
“I think we can beat any team in the league if we have our A game for the night,” fullback Sal Zizzo said.
Zizzo received Sacha Kljestan’s chip on the set piece that led to the Red Bulls’ first goal. Two players faked taking the free kick and one stepped aside, before Kljestan lofted a surprising ball to the far post. Zizzo bounced a header to Lloyd Sam for a clinical finish in front of goal. Incredulous looks -- it worked -- abounded around Red Bull Arena in the aftermath.
“On that play I’ve gotta size up if I’m going to go for goal or even chest it down if they’re not on me or whatever,” Zizzo said. “I just felt like at that time I was just going to put it in a dangerous spot in front of goal – I knew guys were going to be crashing there – so I just tried to just head it down and Lloyd came firing through and it was a good finish.”
Sam played a role in the second goal when he caught FC Dallas 'keeper Jesse Gonzalez off his line and launched a long shot which bounced off the bar, before Kljestan followed the play and made it 2-0 with a diving header. With two rather complex goals out of their system, the Mike Grella and Felipe were able to tack on spectacular – but perhaps more straightforward – finishes to make the final scoreline.
“The message now is that we’re not going to look back,” Kljestan said.
