ALICANTE, SPAIN- The New York Red Bulls played their first match of the 2010 preseason against CSKA Moscow at a wet Campoamour Resort in Alicante, Spain. It was the first match under the direction of new head coach Hans Backe, and the club performed well, playing to a 1-1 draw against the Russian UEFA Champions League side.
Red Bulls midfielder Dane Richards scored the first goal of the 2010 season just six minutes into the match when he took control of a misplayed ball by the CSKA backline and sprinted in alone and beat goalkeeper Chepchugov with a low shot to the left side. Red Bulls captain Juan Pablo Angel took a pass from rookie midfielder Austin da Luz and turned and fired a diagonal ball from 30 yards out at the CSKA defense that was controlled by Stoliarenko, but his back pass was intercepted by Richards.
"It was a good game for us," said Backe. "They are a real high profile team. I am very happy with our performance and our defending. Overall, it was a good match. We've only practiced for 8-10 sessions. Our defense was excellent. You have to be good defending to survive."
"It's the beginning of the exercises we're doing here," said Red Bulls captain Juan Pablo Angel. "It was nice to get a match against a good side. (Hans) had been focusing mainly on the shape of the team. I think we did an excellent job. The things that he told us to do, I think we did exceptionally well. There is still work to be done. But, overall I am pleased with our performance and the shape of the team."
The Red Bulls had a number of other chances in the opening 45 minutes, including two corner kick opportunities in the 17th and 18th minutes and a Conor Chinn tally that was ruled offsides.
The Red Bulls made six substitutions to start the second half. CSKA came out quickly pressuring the Red Bulls back line and finally put one through when Zabolotniy sent in a left side cross that Tomas Necid handled and fired at trialist goalkeeper Bill Gaudette. Gaudette made the save on the shot from just two yards out, but Necid cleaned up the rebound to level the match at 1-1 in the 49th minute.
Richards, who was subbed back in the 67th minute for Angel, had a chance to give New York the victory with five minutes remaining when he split the midfield and sent a pass wide left to Jeremy Hall. Hall gathered the ball and sent it back to Richards in the middle. But, Richards' shot sailed over the crossbar from inside the area.
CSKA pressured New York in the second half, sending a number of shots in, but Gaudette was up to the task as the match finished in a draw.
New York is back in action on Wednesday at La Manga, when it faces Polish side Lech Poznan.
New York Red Bulls 1, CSKA Moscow 1
January 25, 2009 - Copamor Resort, Alicante, Spain
Scoring Summary:
RBNY: Dane Richards 1, 6'
CSKA: Tomas Necid 49'
Disciplinary Summary:
None
New York Red Bulls: Danny Cepero (Bill Gaudette 46'), Danleigh Borman, Tim Ream, Mike Petke (Andrew Boyens 46'), Fredrik Jonsson (Carlos Johnson 46'), Austin da Luz (Jeremy Hall, 46'), Ernst Oebster (Walter Garcia 46'), Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Dane Richards (Irving Garcia 46'), Conor Chinn, Juan Pablo Angel (Dane Richards 67').
CSKA Moscow: Sergey Chepchugov (Artur Nigmatullin, 46), Alexei Berezutski, Kiril Nababkin, Deividas Semberas, Pavel Mamaev, (Evgeni Aldonin, 46), Elver Rahimic, Jabateh Oliseh Sekou, Nika Dzalamidze, (Anton Zabolotny , 46), Aleksandr Stoliarenko, Gusmao Milhomem Guilherme (Tomas Necid, 46), Dmitry Ryzhov.
Referee: Marlinez Suarez
Referee's Assistants: Lopez Aguliar
Weather: 55 degrees and rain
