NEW YORK RED BULLS vs COLUMBUS CREW
GIANTS STADIUM, E. Rutherford, N.J.
August 30, 2009 (WEEK 24) / MLS Game #173
6 p.m. ET (MSG; ONN)
Coming off their first victory in more than three months, the New York Red Bulls play host to Eastern Conference leaders Columbus Crew on Sunday evening at Giants Stadium. Juan Pablo Angel's goal two minutes from the end gave the Red Bulls a 3-2 win last Sunday, their third victory on the league campaign, ending a 17-game winless run in all competitions. The Crew have won five games in a row and are unbeaten in eight, having lost just once in league play since mid-April, a span of 18 games.
REFEREE: Ricardo Salazar. SAR (bench): Greg Barkey; JAR (opposite): Claudio Badea; 4th: Lee Suckle MLS Career: 97 games; FC/gm: 28.4; Y/gm: 3.6; R: 29; pens: 34
INJURY REPORT: NEW YORK RED BULLS - QUESTIONABLE: MF Albert Celades (L calf strain); DF Carlos Johnson (lower back strain) ... COLUMBUS CREW - QUESTIONABLE: Jed Zayner (R ankle sprain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: NY: Kevin Goldthwaite (through Aug. 30)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CLB: Danny O'Rourke
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: NY: Dane Richards, Seth Stammler ... CLB: Eddie Gaven, Frankie Hejduk, Guillermo Barros Schelotto
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (47 meetings): Red Bulls 21 wins, 65 goals ... Crew 21 wins, 56 goals ... Ties 5
AT NEW YORK (23 meetings): Red Bulls 12 wins, 32 goals ... Crew 8 wins, 22 goals ... Ties 3
• During the regular season a year ago, each team held serve at home. The Red Bulls won the two meetings at Giants Stadium while the Crew won the lone encounter at Crew Stadium.
• Of course, the Crew won MLS Cup 2008 between the clubs, a 3-1 victory at The Home Depot Center. Alejandro Moreno (31), Chad Marshall (53) and Frankie Hejduk (82) scored for the Crew - all three goals set up by MLS Cup MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto. John Wolyniec pulled the Red Bulls level two minutes before Marshall's header from a corner put the Crew ahead to stay.
• Two meetings a year ago featured notable goals. In the first, Dave van den Bergh scored the fastest goal in New York club history, officially after 47 seconds (tied for 20th quickest in MLS history), then Danny Cepero, making his MLS debut, became the first goalkeeper to score a goal in league history, in the 83rd minute of the last meeting.
• The Crew's last victory in East Rutherford came in the first meeting between the teams in 2003. In the 10 meetings in the Meadowlands since, New York has won seven.
• One team had been shutout in eight consecutive meetings in the series, until the last two meetings (as well as the MLS Cup Final). Two of those games were scoreless draws (the first meeting in both 2006 and 2007).
• Coaches record: Robert Warzycha v NY: P3 W2 L1 D0 ... Richie Williams vs. CLB: P2 W1 L0 D1
LAST MEETING (MLS)
6/27: CLB 1, NY 0 (Marshall 45)
• The Crew won the rematch of MLS Cup 2008 at Crew Stadium, defeating the Red Bulls 1-0 on June 27.
• The game's lone goal came just before the halftime break. Guillermo Barros Schelotto swung in a corner from the right and Chad Marshall skied over a defender to powerfully head past Crew midfielder Eddie Gaven and goalkeeper Danny Cepero just inside the post, the second goal of the season for the Columbus center back.
• Here's Warzycha's team (4-4-1-1): William Hesmer - Frankie Hejduk, Eric Brunner, Chad Marshall, Gino Padula - Eddie Gaven (Emmanuel Ekpo 74), Danny O'Rourke, Brian Carroll, Robbie Rogers - Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Steven Lenhart (Jason Garey 67). Substitutes Not Used: Kevin Burns, Andy Gruenebaum, Andy Iro, Alejandro Moreno, Jed Zayner
• Here's Juan Carlos Osorio's team (4-1-4-1): Danny Cepero - Jeremy Hall, Andrew Boyens, Carlos Mendes (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 41), Alfredo Pacheco -Seth Stammler - Nick Zimmerman, Luke Sassano, Jorge Rojas, Khano Smith (Danleigh Borman 74) - John Wolyniec (Matthew Mbuta 46). Substitutes Not Used: Albert Celades, Jon Conway, Macoumba Kandji, Dane Richards
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls won for the first time since May 8, ending a 13-game league winless run, finally holding on for a 3-2 victory against FC Dallas on Sunday afternoon at Giants Stadium. The Red Bulls have 13 points from 23 matches on the season, sitting in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, 26 points off the pace of the joint MLS overall leaders Columbus Crew.
LAST MATCH
• The Red Bulls were in the second game of a five-game homestand riding a six-game losing streak. FC Dallas were on the road for a second consecutive week, a two-game winning streak put to an end in Columbus the week before.
• The Red Bulls jumped into the lead after just four minutes. Albert Celades played a through ball from the center circle for Juan Pablo Angel and, seeing Dario Sala well off his line, the Colombian sent an audacious chip over his former River Plate teammate from well outside the area for the club's first lead in a game since June 20.
• But the visitors were level by the 19-minute mark. Jeff Cunningham chased down a long deflected ball in the right corner and floated a cross back into the heart of the area, where Dax McCarty came in from deep to send a looping header into the left side of the net for his first goal on the season.
• Yet nine minutes later the Red Bulls had again nosed in front. John Wolyniec chased down a long ball from Celades, cut back in the area and sent a low cross to the far post where Richards tapped the ball home.
• The Red Bulls went a man down in the 60th minute when Kevin Goldthwaite was shown a straight red card after some grappling for a corner kick, and then 12 minutes FCD took advantage to again pull even. McCarty slipped the ball to Dave van den Bergh on the left, and the former Red Bulls man hit a spectacular curling effort inside the far post for his second goal.
• But two minutes from the end, New York snatched the winner. Mac Kandji burst free down the left flank and hit a powerful angled drive that Sala could only parry. Angel steamed in to tap the rebound over the fallen 'keeper for his 42nd goal with New York, the club's all-time leader, securing its first victory since May 8.
• In his first game in charge, Richie Williams made five changes to the team that lost 2-0 to Chivas USA the week before. Danny Cepero, Danleigh Borman, Andrew Boyens, Sinisa Ubiparipovic and Juan Pablo Angel all came into the team, with Bouna Coundoul, Luke Sassano, Ernst Oebster and Carlos Johnson all dropped and Mike Petke suspended.
• Here's Williams' team (4-1-3-2): Danny Cepero - Danleigh Borman, Andrew Boyens, Kevin Goldthwaite, Jeremy Hall - Seth Stammler - Dane Richards, Albert Celades (Leo Krupnik 66), Sinisa Ubiparipovic (Jorge Rojas 78) - John Wolyniec (Macoumba Kandji 78), Juan Pablo Angel. Substitutes Not Used: Bouna Coundoul, Carlos Johnson, Alfredo Pacheco, Nick Zimmerman
• "I think we all knew we had it in us," Williams said. "We are not a 2-16-4 team. We know we are better than that. We just had to bring it out and we brought it out today."
TEAM NEWS
• Richie Williams is serving as interim coach of the club for the second time. He also served as the Red Bulls interim head coach from June 27-Aug. 12, 2006, taking over for Mo Johnston. Williams went 4-3-2 over that stretch.
• "I don't want to go into the past," Williams said. "I told the guys that what's in the past is in the past. We learn from our mistakes. Coaches learn from their mistakes, players learn from their mistakes. We need to learn from that and put it behind us. It's an eight-game season. We'll take it one game at a time and those things that need to be addressed in the offseason will be addressed."
• The Red Bulls carried the lead into halftime for the first time since a 1-1 draw against the Seattle Sounders FC on June 20.
• "There was a nice sense of achievement coming into the locker room at halftime," Stammler said. Added Angel: "For the first time in a long time we were 2-1 up at the half and that gave us a little bit of a break."
• Angel's second goal broke Giovanni Savarese's previous club record for all-time regular season goals and tied the Colombian with Clint Mathis for goals in all competition in club history with 45. Savarese played for the MetroStars from 1996-98, scoring 41 goals in 85 regular-season matches. Angel has struck for 42 in 68 games.
• "If it would have happened in different circumstances I would probably be more happy, but today is about the team," Angel said. "We won, we broke that terrible record of I don't know how many games consecutively of losing. I'm happy and delighted to at least write my name on the history of this club."
• While the possibilities are remote, the Red Bulls have 13 points from 23 games, meaning 21 points are still available if they win out. There is a four-way tie for seventh place overall on 30 points (Colorado, New England, Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC), for the final two places in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
• "Obviously it's a great day today for us," Angel said. "We managed to win after a very difficult year and I hope this gives us a great boost going into the last stretch of the season. We have seven games left and I guess if we play like this we will probably have a little bit of a chance."
• Said Williams: "We're hoping to win all seven remaining games. When you step on the field, you want to win. The only way you step on the field is to win games. That's what we're doing. We're going to take it one game at a time. We know it's not going to be easy, but it's our ultimate goal."
COLUMBUS CREW
The Columbus Crew return to league play after a weekend off, winning a fifth consecutive match last time out, a 3-0 win against the San Jose Earthquakes on Aug. 8 at Candlestick Park. The Crew lead the Eastern Conference with 39 points from 22 matches on the season, a point ahead of the Chicago Fire and a point behind Western Conference leaders Houston Dynamo in the race for the Supporters' Shield.
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.
• Crew head coach Robert Warzycha made three changes to the team that defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 3-0 on the road the week before. Emmanuel Ekpo and Adam Moffat came into the midfield in place of Eddie Gaven and the suspended Brian Carroll, and Alejandro Moreno returned to the lineup in place of Jason Garey.
• Here's Warzycha's team (4-4-2): William Hesmer - Jed Zayner, Eric Brunner, Chad Marshall, Gino Padula - Emmanuel Ekpo (Guillermo Barros Schelotto 91+), Adam Moffat (Duncan Oughton 80), Danny O'Rourke, Robbie Rogers - Steven Lenhart (Eddie Gaven 75), Alejandro Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Kevin Burns, Jason Garey, Andy Gruenebaum, Andy Iro
TEAM NEWS
•Since their last league game, the Crew have set sail in their inaugural appearance in the CONCACAF Champions League, with mixed results. In their first game in Group C, they defeated the USL-1 Puerto Rico Islanders 2-0 at Crew Stadium on Aug. 18. Chad Marshall (58) and Robbie Rogers (79) scored for the Crew.
• Then on Wednesday, the Crew lost 5-0 to CDSC Cruz Azul at Estadio Azul in Mexico City. Jaime Lozano (three goals, one from a penalty), Marvin Nunez and an own goal gave the Mexican side the runaway victory. The Crew were left a man down for the majority of the match after Eric Brunner was sent off with two yellow cards in the space of three minutes (36, 38).
• "I think the result speaks for itself. We knew this was going to be a tough place to play. Cruz Azul is a good team and we expected a tough game, but we didn´t think we were going to lose 5-0," said Warzycha. "A couple of silly mistakes, an own goal and (we) end up going home with five goals."
• Here's Warzycha's team: William Hesmer - Chad Marshall, Frankie Hejduk, Danny O'Rourke, Gino Padula, Eric Brunner (sent off 38), Robbie Rogers (Steven Lenhart 79), Eddie Gaven, Brian Carroll, Alejandro Moreno (Emmanuel Ekpo 65), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Adam Moffat 53)
•Guillermo Barros Schelotto started both Champions League games for the Crew. Schelotto had last started for the Crew on July 11, missing four games with a hamstring injury before making a cameo substitute appearance in the San Jose match.
• As well, Frankie Hejduk returned to action for the first time since the July 25 game against Toronto FC, missing the time through a quadriceps injury.
• "Everyone's done well. Anytime you get five wins in a row at this point in the season that's the type of run you need to go on," Hejduk said. "Everyone's doing his job, filling his role. That's what you do as professionals whether you're a starter or if you're a guy coming off the bench and asked to do a job, you've got to be prepared. The guys who have stepped in have done an incredible job."
• Following the New York game, the Crew will have a bit of a break before the schedule really becomes busy. They will play four MLS and three Champions League matches from Sept. 13 to Oct. 3, including six games in 17 days. Two of the three Champions League matches are at home with a trip to Costa Rica on Sept. 16 to face Saprissa.
• "We've got New York then a few days off to recuperate as a team then get ready for the stretch in the fall," said Jason Garey. "We're getting five or six days off to get away from soccer and come back rested and recharged. We'll be full strength, ready to go."
