HOUSTON - The New York Red Bulls lost 4-0 to Houston Dynamo on Thursday night, marking the team's fourth consecutive match without a victory, and the fourth time this season that the Red Bulls have been shut out.
Red Bulls head coach Bruce Arena thought his team played well in the first half, attributing New York's 2-0 halftime deficit to bad luck.
"I think we were a little unfortunate in the first half," Arena said. "I thought we started the game off well, and there were a couple of calls in the first half that impacted the score line. But having said that, we came out in the second half and were soundly beaten."
Arena was very disappointed with his team's lack of fire in the second half, saying, "The way we responded and came out of the locker room in the second half was very poor."
New York midfielder Claudio Reyna agreed with his coach's assessment.
"We're disappointed because we came out good," Reyna said. "We came to the game very well away from home."
Visitors to Houston are often surprised by the heat and humidity, but Reyna said that the Houston weather didn't impact the outcome of the game.
"There are all kinds of conditions you play in," Reyna said. "The one thing you know going into any game, whether it's cold or it's hot, both teams are playing in the same conditions. ... It doesn't affect the outcome."
Reyna said that the team was more affected by the feeling of being in a 2-0 hole after the first half than by the heat.
"The heat probably didn't affect us when it was 2-0," Reyna said. "When it's 0-0, it doesn't affect us as much, but when you're losing, I think it mentally affects a few guys and makes the team struggle a bit. It's the same for everyone, and we can't make excuses."
Reyna was also of the opinion that the main difference in the game was Houston's play on set pieces. "You can break down the game quite easily from set pieces - they scored on three set pieces. ... It's as simple as that," he said.
Arena attributed the loss to a more general lack of inspiration on the part of his players.
"We have too many players who played poorly," Arena said, "and that has to be accounted for. You can't ignore some of the performances on the field tonight."
Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel didn't have a shot in the game, and Arena pulled his team's leading scorer in the second half. Arena said that the substitution was geared towards preserving Angel for the team's next match against the Colorado Rapids on Sunday.
"At 3-0, I was pretty much aware of the fact that it's not likely we're going to score four goals and win this game," Arena said. "I thought it was important to get Angel off of the field and have him ready for Sunday."
Arena believes that his team needs to study this game and what went wrong, learn some lessons from their mistakes, and then forget about it.
"You've got to learn from it and move forward," Arena said. "You can't dwell on this game. If we dwell on this game a whole lot, we're not going to win another game this year."
Added Reyna: "It was strange and disappointing, but we just have to forget about it and move on. We've got a game on Sunday that we can win."
Reyna is optimistic that his team, which started the season with a five-game unbeaten streak and did not allow a goal in its first four games, is capable of climbing back to the top of the standings.
"We're in a little bit of a low period, but we're still one of the top teams," Reyna said. "We've just got to pick ourselves up and move forward. Sometimes you need a slap in the face to wake up, and this was our hardest slap of the year."
Lucas Ogden-Davis is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
