HARRISON, N.J. -- The New York Red Bulls' victory over Orlando City SC was everything they hoped to achieve.
Not only did the team snap their four-game winless streak, they did so while riding a brace from Bradley Wright-Phillips -- his first two goals on the season.
"I feel like I'm back as a player," Wright-Phillips said after the match. "I don't want to sound too cliche, but its all about the three points. We've been struggling to get three points and today felt good. It felt really good."
New York pressed Orlando early and often, creating a plethora of chances in the Lions' end, but failing to break through a stunning defense -- and an even more impressive goalkeeping performance from Joe Bendik.
Eventually, Mike Grella opened the floodgates in the 65th minute, and Wright-Phillips was more than happy to follow suit. After 695 minutes of scoreless soccer, the English-born striker found his first two goals of the year in a six-minute span, putting New York ahead for the first time all evening and creating enough distance for the Red Bulls to stave off a late Orlando push.
For Red Bulls boss Jesse Marsch, the goals were a result of hard work from all the club veterans, including the tenacious Wright-Phillips.
"I think it was Bradley's best game of the year, Sacha [Kljestan]'s best game of the year, Mike's best game of the year and Lloyd [Sam]'s best game of the year," Marsch said following the match. "They really dictated how we did things in the attacking part of the field and they were dangerous all night and they all contributed to the goals.
"That was really good to see."
So what was the turning point that broke Wright-Phillip's drought? Some may point to his aggressive performance on the evening.
Or it could just be a change in his footwear.
"I try not to [change anything]," Wright-Phillips said after the match. "But I did change my boots!
"When I'm not scoring, I'm not scoring. I go on the worst runs and I don't want to jinx myself. When I do score, I manage to just get lucky and they all start going in so hopefully that's what happens now."
