NEW YORK RED BULLS vs. COLORADO RAPIDS
GIANTS STADIUM, E. Rutherford, N.J.
Sept. 27, 2008 | 7:30 p.m. ET (MSG; Altitude)
WEEK # 27 | GAME # 179
A couple of teams who really need a victory to keep pace in the MLS Cup Playoffs race meet in an interconference battle when the New York Red Bulls play host to the Colorado Rapids. Both teams currently find themselves in postseason position. The Red Bulls sit in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, but hold top place in the wild card standings - yet could find themselves right back out with a loss and other results. The Rapids are tied for third in the Western Conference, hanging onto the final automatic playoff spot only by a tiebreaker.
REFEREE: Baldomero Toledo. SAR (bench): Anthony Vasoli; JAR (opposite): Nate Clement; 4th: Lee Suckle
MLS Career: 61 games; FC/gm: 27.0; Y/gm: 3.9; R: 24; pens: 22
INJURY REPORT: NEW YORK RED BULLS - OUT: MF Dave van den Bergh (sports hernia surgery); MF Gordon Kljestan (L ankle sprain) ... COLORADO RAPIDS - OUT: GK Justin Hughes (R shoulder); QUESTIONABLE: FW Tom McManus (L knee)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: NY: Kevin Goldthwaite (through Sept. 28)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: NY: Andrew Boyens ... COL: Colin Clark, Pablo Mastroeni
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: NY: Seth Stammler, Sinisa Ubiparipovic ... COL: Nick LaBrocca
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (28 meetings): Red Bulls 13 wins (0 shootout), 40 goals ... Rapids 12 wins (0 shootout), 34 goals ... Ties 3
AT NEW YORK (13 meetings): Red Bulls 7 wins (0 shootout), 24 goals ... Rapids 5 wins (0 shootout), 16 goals ... Ties 1
• This is the second of two meetings between the teams this season, the only one at Giants Stadium.
• The teams split their season series a year ago, each winning by 1-0 scorelines at the other's home ground.
• In the first meeting this season, it was the first time in six meetings either team scored more than a single goal. Three of the games finished in 1-0 results and two were 1-1 draws before the Rapids' 4-0 win.
• Coaches record: Juan Carlos Osorio vs. COL: P1 W0 L1 D0 ... Gary Smith v NY: first game
LAST MEETING (MLS):
7/4: COL 4, NY 1 (McManus 24; Ballouchy 36; Clark 49; Cummings 68)
• The Rapids scored a pair of goals in each half to record yet another win at their Fourth of July extravaganza, rolling to a 4-0 win against the Red Bulls in the first meeting this season.
• In front of a record crowd at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, in the 24th minute, Facundo Erpen set Colin Clark free down the left, and his clipped cross into the goal area was turned home by Tom McManus. Then 12 minutes later, a sweeping move from left to right saw Terry Cooke drive a low cross into the box that Mehdi Ballouchy stabbed home first-time.
• The Rapids made it 3-0 four minutes after the break. Clark took a long ball on the left flank, and after winning possession, rounded Dane Richards to race into the box nearly unmolested before hammering a rasping drive from an angle that sailed high inside the far post.
• In the 68th minute, Colorado rounded off the victory, as Omar Cummings took a through ball, skipped between a pair of defenders at the top of the area and slotted home past Red Bulls 'keeper Jon Conway. With the win, the Rapids improved their record on July 4 to 11-1-1.
• Here's Clavijo's team (3-4-1-2): Bouna Coundoul - Ugo Ihemelu, Pablo Mastroeni, Facundo Erpen - Terry Cooke, Mehdi Ballouchy, Nick LaBrocca, Colin Clark - Christian Gomez (John DiRaimondo 52) - Conor Casey (Omar Cummings 46), Tom McManus (Herculez Gomez 72). Substitutes Not Used: Preston Burpo, Jordan Harvey, Kosuke Kimura, Jacob Peterson
• Here's Osorio's team (4-2-3-1): Jon Conway - Hunter Freeman (Mike Magee 46), Jeff Parke, Andrew Boyens, Kevin Goldthwaite - Carlos Mendes, Seth Stammler (Juan Pablo Angel 46) - Dane Richards (Luke Sassano 66), Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Dave van den Bergh - Oscar Echeverry. Substitutes Not Used: Danleigh Borman, Chris Leitch, Zach Thornton, John Wolyniec
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls saw their road winless streak reach 10 games, the Columbus Crew storming back for a 3-1 victory at Crew Stadium on MLS Primetime Thursday. The Red Bulls now have 35 points from 25 matches, but still hold sole possession of fourth place in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of D.C. United and three ahead of the Kansas City Wizards.
LAST MATCH
• The Crew hadn't lost since early August, though seeing their four-game winning streak come to an end in a tie at Toronto the week before. The Red Bulls rebounded after seeing their six-game unbeaten string snapped with a win against Real Salt Lake.
• The Red Bulls jumped on top early. Sizing up a free kick some 35 yards from goal, Juan Pablo Angel lashed his effort over the wall and inside the right-hand post for his 10th goal on the season, and eighth in the last 10 games.
• But the Crew took control of the match with goals on either side of halftime. In the 41st minute, Frankie Hejduk squirted down the right and put in an arching ball aimed for the back post that sailed over goalkeeper Jon Conway and into the side netting for his first goal on the season.
• Then in the first minute after the restart, Robbie Rogers went haring forward on the left before hammering a stunning drive that whistled into the upper corner from all of 30 yards away for his first goal in 16 matches back to May 10, his sixth on the year.
• The Crew finished off the win the 85th minute when Hejduk overlapped on the right and sent a square pass across the face of goal for Eddie Gaven to side-foot home for his second goal of the year.
• Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio made three changes to the team that came back for a 2-1 win against Real Salt Lake the Saturday before. Seth Stammler came back from suspension and Andrew Boyens came back into the back four as Dave van den Bergh injured and John Wolyniec returned to the substitutes' bench.
• Here's Osorio's team (4-2-3-1): Jon Conway - Andrew Boyens, Gabriel Cichero, Jeff Parke, Kevin Goldthwaite - Juan Pietravallo (John Wolyniec 54), Seth Stammler - Dane Richards, Mike Magee (Danleigh Borman 61), Jorge Rojas - Juan Pablo Angel. Substitutes Not Used: Danny Cepero, Chris Leitch, Carlos Mendes, Luke Sassano, Sinisa Ubiparipovic
TEAM NEWS
• After conceding just four goals in seven games, the Red Bulls allowed three in the loss to the Crew - the most since the 4-0 loss to Colorado on the Fourth of July.
• "We didn't give ourselves a chance to win this game. First of all, we couldn't keep the lead and then their early goal destroyed everything that we talked about," Osorio said. "Then after that, it was just a matter of us going forward and then they just picked us off and counterattacked and created chances."
• The Red Bulls have now lost two of their last three games - both to conference opposition and both to teams just ahead of them in the divisional standings - after reeling off six consecutive games without loss.
• "It's disappointing. I think we got off to a very good start and for some reason we couldn't get a grip on the game and we let them come back and we paid the price because of that," Juan Pablo Angel said. "I'm really disappointed because we should have got something out of this game."
• With Dave van den Bergh sidelined after having undergone sports hernia surgery, Jorge Rojas started in a wide left role with Angel alone up top. With the introduction of John Wolyniec as a second striker early in the second half, Rojas moved back to his regular central midfield spot.
• "We came out pretty good," goalkeeper Jon Conway said. "We lost the game then they got into it pretty good. That's the way it goes on the road. We have to do a better job of handling their pressure after we get a goal."
• After missing out on five consecutive starts, Angel returned to the lineup July 10 - and in the 10 games since, he has scored eight goals. He scored the Red Bulls' only goal in their 3-1 loss at Columbus last Thursday. Angel now has 10 goals this season and is tied for fifth in the Golden Boot standings; he has scored 29 goals in 42 league games in MLS.
• "It was a free kick. It was a foul and I took it well and it went into the far corner. It was an important goal because it put us ahead in the game on the road," Angel said. "It was important to score a goal, especially to get in front, and I'm just disappointed because we should have done far better than we did today."
• New York remains fourth in the Eastern Conference with 35 points, in seventh place in the MLS overall table and holding onto the first available wild card spot. After this weekend, three of New York's final four games come against Eastern Conference opponents. "Every match from here on out is critical," Conway said. "Every game is going to be one with playoff implications, needing to get results."
COLORADO RAPIDS
The Colorado Rapids stayed in a tie for third place in the Western Conference, holding the New England Revolution to a 1-1 draw on Saturday evening at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The Rapids now have 31 points from 25 matches, level now with Real Salt Lake, two points behind Chivas USA and just a point ahead of FC Dallas.
LAST MATCH
• The Rapids were coming off back-to-back shutout victories, which followed back-to-back shutout losses, while the Revolution were coming off their first win in four league games, the 4-0 drubbing of Chivas USA.
• The Rapids owned most of the early exchanges and duly went ahead in the 42nd minute. The goal came through a likely source: Terry Cooke swung in a cross from the right flank and Colin Clark rose up to head home for his fourth goal on the year. It was the 10th assist of the season for Cooke.
• But the Revolution pulled level just five minutes after the restart. Gabriel Badilla knocked a free kick from near halfway toward the Colorado penalty kick, and it took a deflection off a Rapids defender, falling right to Kenny Mansally, who calmly scooped it over 'keeper Preston Burpo for his first goal in four months.
• Rapids interim head coach Gary Smith made no changes to the team that got a pair of first-half goals for a 2-0 win against the Chicago Fire the previous Sunday.
• Here's Smith's team (4-4-2): Preston Burpo - Kosuke Kimura, Cory Gibbs, Mike Petke, Jordan Harvey - Terry Cooke, Nick LaBrocca (Mehdi Ballouchy 8), Pablo Mastroeni, Colin Clark - Omar Cummings, Tom McManus (Conor Casey 62). Substitutes Not Used: Jose Burciaga Jr., Christian Gomez, Bouna Coundoul, Facundo Erpen, Ugo Ihemelu
• "On another day, we win the game I think," Smith said. "We have enough chances to win the game. Sadly today we come away with a point against a rejuvenated New England team who we all know have tremendous quality, and I think we've restricted them to few opportunities and scraps, to be honest."
TEAM NEWS
• The wing combination of Terry Cooke and Colin Clark was a positive for the Rapids, combining for seven shots between them and teaming up for the first-half goal through yet another service from the flank.
• We created a number of opportunities, and I thought their goalkeeper made some really good saves. I thought there were some terrific passages of play that found us in good areas. Some great delivery from both sides. Terry and Colin were instrumental in a lot of things we created," Smith said.
• While it was the fourth goal of the season for Clark, it was his first since July 4, when he scored the third in the 4-0 defeat of the Red Bulls in Commerce City.
• "I was a little frustrated. I wasn't seeing too much of the ball. At times that's the way it's going to be and you just have to deal with it. I found myself drifting into the box and playing more centrally," Clark said. "That's what you do when Cookie puts a cross in, just let it hit your head and it will go in."
• Even held to a single point at home, the Rapids are still in playoff position - while tied with Real Salt Lake for the final automatic spot in the Western Conference, at the moment Colorado holds the tiebreaker. However, the teams face each other in the season finale for both; the Rapids finish the year with four games against Western Conference opposition.
• "It feels like a defeat in many ways," Smith said. "I thought the team conducted themselves in an extremely professional manner. The game was tight for a good period in the first half, and the one goal that separated it I felt was a very decent goal."
• The Mansally goal was the first allowed by the Rapids in 260 minutes, by far their longest shutout streak on the season. The shutouts in the previous two matches, against FC Dallas and Chicago, were the first back-to-back shutouts of the season.
• "He got a good bounce," Burpo said. "It was deflected off Cory towards the back. My initial move was to go forward, but the way the ball popped up, I was in trouble at that point, and I decided to sit and hope he was just going to shoot it. But he decided to chip it. I was in trouble, and he did well with it."
