The New York Red Bulls and their well-documented struggles in Chicago were a major talking point leading into Wednesday night’s clash. Come the regular season finale, those same concerns will still be around.
Riding high on a six-game unbeaten run, New York saw their streak snapped in their house of horrors, Toyota Park, as the Eastern Conference cellar-dwelling Chicago Fire put three past the Red Bulls en route to three points.
“You have to give a lot of credit to Chicago,” head coach Jesse Marsch said after the 3-2 loss. “They played with urgency and desperation and they put a lot into it. In the end, we weren’t quite sharp enough and not quite good enough, and a lot of that has to do with the game that Chicago put us in.”
Despite taking an early lead through a Sacha Kljestan goal from the penalty spot, a resilient Chicago squad fought back to equalize before taking the lead going into the break.
“Disappointing result,” Kljestan said. “We started out pretty well but then we let the game get away from us. In the end, a couple of turnovers and defensive mistakes cost us the game.”
Meeting for the first time this season, there was some unfamiliarity between the two sides. But with two more meetings scheduled during their final 10 games of the season, the Red Bulls made sure to take note of just how the Fire were able to exploit their weakness.
“They’ve got good pieces,” goalkeeper Luis Robles said. “They beat us today with speed and on giveaways. We know going forward that the next time we play them we’re going to have be a bit more cautious with our giveaways in the middle.”
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While far from a positive result, there were some encouraging moments to take back home for the Red Bulls. Playing in his first MLS action since June 28, Ronald Zubar went the full 90, tallying an equalizing goal in the process, albeit in controversial fashion. After numerous injuries and setbacks, the Frenchman’s return was a welcome sight for the Red Bulls head coach.
“That’s a real positive,” Marsch said. “I thought he had a very good game and as the game went on he got better and better.”
The Red Bulls will have little time to dwell on their misfortunes as a top-of-the-table clash looms at the weekend. They return to Red Bull Arena to take on Eastern Conference-leading D.C. United on Sunday (7 pm ET, Fox Sports 1) as part of Heineken Rivalry Week, and know that there is no mistaking just how important that rivalry match will be both on and off the pitch.
“Right now all our focus has to go to D.C.,” Marsch added. “As frustrating and hard as this loss is, if we can rebound and come back home to get three points, we’ll forget about this game pretty quickly. We just have to get back home and get ready for a really, really big game against D.C.”
