team management and everything else is coming through."
Goalkeeper Jon Conway earned his fifth shutout of the season, but he did not have much to do with the back four of Wynne, Seth Stammler, Carlos Mendes and Jeff Parke snuffing out Chicago's attack for 90 minutes. Conway was tested only once all match, when in the 45th minute he came off his line to stuff an Ivan Guerrero shot.
However, the key according to many players was the total team defense.
"Our defense has always been strong. It wasn't only the back four. I think defensively our team played real well," said midfielder Danny O'Rourke. "You have guys like Amado [Guevara] and Jozy [Altidore], who played phenomenal for his first start. Everyone was working hard for each other and that's what it takes day in and day out."
New York's defense in general has been one of its strengths this season. Prior to last Saturday's game against United, it had not given up more than two goals since July 1 in a 3-2 loss at New England.
Mendes and Parke have quietly become a solid tandem in the center of defense with both players missing only one game each this season, while Wynne and Stammler's ability to get forward have boosted the squad. Wynne, who earned a second yellow card in the 81st minute to reduce the Red Bulls to 10 men, was particularly impressive.
"I thought Marvell Wynne had a terrific game," said Red Bulls head coach Bruce Arena. "His speed is certainly his strength and now he's becoming a better soccer player tactically and improving technically. He put in a very good cross that created the goal. To me, this was Marvell's best game."
New York hopes that they can extend this form when they play Colorado next Saturday.
"I thought it was a good game," Mendes said. "We played well for 90 minutes; we concentrated. That was the most important thing. We've had a lot of results where we should've gotten more points out of the game, so tonight was good. We need to keep this going."
Team treated Fire match as "a playoff game"
During their huddle right before kickoff, the New York Red Bulls' Starting 11 made one message clear:
"I just remember in the huddle, some of us were talking and we just said, 'It's a playoff game; we've got to win,'" O'Rourke said. "Three points is what we have to expect and I think we had the control of the game in the first half and then we just kept pounding at them and got a great goal."
One of the team's main concerns has been trying to stay consistent and focused for over 90 minutes in their play. With the team two points out of a playoff spot going into Saturday's showdown, the Red Bulls accomplished that goal by putting together one of their strongest performances of the season.
"I think they've been getting better. We just haven't gotten any kind of real results to demonstrate that," Arena said. "Tonight, I think the guys played quite well for 90 minutes. It's been our most consistent game to date. I think all around it was a very good effort by our guys. I was very pleased."
Scoreboard watching
The Red Bulls received some help from Real Salt Lake Saturday night, as Jason Kreis' late goal leveled their match with Kansas City 3-3. New York is now tied on points with the Wizards, with a head-to-head and goal differential advantage (1-0-2 vs. K.C. head-to-head and one better on goal differential). Thus, though there are two games remaining in the regular season, in their minds, the Red Bulls have already started their postseason fight.
Other notes:
