The New York Red Bulls and New England Revolution renew their I-95 rivalry on FOX Soccer Night in America when the clubs meet for the first time this season at Red Bull Arena. The Red Bulls come into the game off four consecutive draws, last a 1-1 tie with the Columbus Crew on their home ground. The Revolution conclude a two-game road swing after a second consecutive 1-0 loss in their last match, at FC Dallas.
MATCH NOTE: The Red Bull will honor former midfielder Seth Stammler, who retired at the end of the 2010 sesaon, at halftime of the match.
TV: Fox Soccer
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REFEREE: Terry Vaughn. SAR (bench): Fabio Tovar; JAR (opposite): Ian Anderson; 4th: Juan Guzman. MLS Career: 145 games; FC/gm: 28.5; Y/gm: 3.8; R: 47; pens: 46
INJURY REPORT
- NEW YORK RED BULLS – OUT: MF Carl Robinson (R knee contusion); DF Chris Albright (hernia surgery); QUESTIONABLE: DF Jan Gunnar Solli (R hamstring strain)
- NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION – OUT: MF Benny Feilhaber (R ankle sprain); MF Marko Perovic (L knee sprain); PROBABLE: MF Zak Boggs (R knee MCL sprain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: NY: Rafael Marquez (Mexico); Dane Richards (Jamaica); Juan Agudelo, Tim Ream (USA); Dwayne De Rosario (Canada)
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
- SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: NE: Stephen McCarthy
- SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: NY: Luke Rodgers … NE: Shalrie Joseph
HEAD-TO-HEAD
- ALL-TIME (52 meetings): Red Bulls 17 wins (2 shootout), 88 goals … Revolution 24 wins (3 shootout), 95 goals … Ties 11
- AT NEW YORK (25 meetings): Red Bulls 13 wins (0 shootout), 57 goals … Revolution 8 wins (2 shootout), 42 goals … Ties 7
- RETURN MATCH: 8/20: New England Revolution vs. New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
- LAST YEAR (MLS): 5/29: NE 3, NY 2 (Perovic 8; own goal 24; Schilawski 80 – Stammler 20; Angel 49). 10/21: NY 2, NE 0 (Richards 17; Lindpere 90)
- The last time a road team won in the series came in the first meeting in 2007, a 1-0 Revolution victory at Giants Stadium. The teams then played to draws in each of the last four meetings at the Meadowlands, before the Red Bulls won 2-0 in the first meeting at Red Bull Arena.
- New York has not won in New England since 2002. The Revolution have won the last two encounters at
- Gillette Stadium, and 12 of 16 meetings in league and MLS Cup play since that last New York win.
- Coaches record: Hans Backe v NE: P2 W1 L1 D0 … Steve Nicol vs. NY: P30 W15 L5 D10
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls reached a draw for a fourth consecutive match, pegged back for a 1-1 tie by the Columbus Crew on Saturday evening at Red Bull Arena. The Red Bulls have 19 points from 13 games, sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference.
LAST MATCH
- The Red Bulls opened the scoring after just nine minutes. Collecting a long ball from Jan Gunnar Solli, Luke Rodgers spun away from a couple of defenders before laying the ball square to Mehdi Ballouchy, who chipped a shot past hard-charging Crew goalkeeper William Hesmer.
- But two minutes into stoppage time, Crew rookie Justin Meram raced New York right back Matt Kassel and found fellow rookie Rich Balchan making a hard run into the box, and he then fired home a shot past a helpless Greg Sutton for the equalizer.
- Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe made three changes to the team that played to a 1-1 result with Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Empire Field. Mehdi Ballouchy, Thierry Henry and Austin da Luz came into the team, with Tim Ream, Juan Agudelo and Dwayne De Rosario away on international duty.
- NEW YORK RED BULLS (4-1-3-2): Greg Sutton - Jan Gunnar Solli (Matt Kassel 28), Carlos Mendes, Stephen Keel, Roy Miller - Teemu Tainio - Mehdi Ballouchy, Joel Lindpere, Austin da Luz - Thierry Henry, Luke Rodgers.
TEAM NEWS
- The Red Bulls were missing six regulars for the game against Columbus, for the first time during the international window. In addition to the five players who had all joined their national teams for the Gold Cup, Bouna Coundoul was also with Senegal.
- "I don't think anyone can say it was a must-win. I would be very, very happy if we pick up one point [per game] the next three weeks," Backe said. "We cannot have any expectations with six players out. That is naïve and it is very, very stupid."
- The Red Bulls have now played to four consecutive draws, approaching the record that is currently being set by the Colorado Rapids.
- "With one minute to go you put the ball in the corner. Come on, one minute left, you don't let a team have anywhere near the goal," said forward Luke Rodgers. "Everyone's fuming in there, there's a lot of arguing. But it needs to be said. … If we want to be where we want to be at the end of the season -- that's in the final winning the league -- we can't be doing that. That's not good enough from any of us, any one, every single player."
- When Ballouchy scored to put the Red Bulls ahead, it was the first time they’d led since May 21, when Dane Richards scored in the game’s first minute. The Red Bulls had gone 267 minutes without holding the lead; they have tied four games (out of eight) after scoring the first goal, tied for the most games in MLS in dropping points after scoring first.
- "For them to score that late is completely unacceptable," said Stephen Keel. "It goes down as a tie and a point but it feels like a loss, absolutely. Anytime you're up 1-0 at home and you give up a goal in the 92nd minute, it's tough, no matter where you are or who's on the field."
- Since taking over the starting role for good for the April 16 game vs. San Jose, Rodgers has scored five goals and added three assists – directly involved in nearly half of the Red Bulls goals (eight of 17).
- Austin da Luz was given his first MLS start, playing on the left side of midfield. His league debut came the week before in Vancouver.
- “It was his first game, and I wanted to keep it simple and safe, and I was happy to see him do it for 90 minutes,” Backe said. “But I told him that when he should, he could go forward. His play earns another start.”
- Matt Kassel, who also made his professional debut the week before, came on in the 28th minute for Jan Gunnar Solli, who went down with a hamstring injury. Kassel was primarily a midfielder in college and filled an unfamiliar role in the straight swap at right back. “It’s still a learning process, obviously,” Kassel said. “I am still a young guy, new to the position. We’ll work on it.”
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution lost by the minimum difference for a second consecutive match, a 1-0 defeat by FC Dallas on Saturday evening at Pizza Hut Park. The Revolution have 13 points from 13 matches, in a tie for sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
LAST MATCH
- The game's lone goal came in the 69th minute. Marvin Chavez rounded his defender after a run down the right flank and cut toward the near post. He slotted a low shot from a narrow angle that beat Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis on the short side.
- FCD goalkeeper Kevin Hartman recorded his MLS-record 100th career shutout, stopping two shots in the process.
- Revolution head coach Steve Nicol made two changes to the team that lost 1-0 to the LA Galaxy at Gillette Stadium. Didier Domi came into the back four for Darrius Barnes, and Ousmane Dabo replaced Benny Feilhaber in midfield.
- NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (4-2-3-1): Matt Reis - Kevin Alston, A.J. Soares, Ryan Cochrane, Didier Domi (Darrius Barnes 59) - Stephen McCarthy (Sainey Nyassi 70), Ousmane Dabo (Pat Phelan 53) - Zak Boggs, Shalrie Joseph, Chris Tierney - Rajko Lekic.
TEAM NEWS
- The Revolution have lost three games in a row, the last two by a 1-0 scoreline. They have lost their last four games on the road; seven of their10 games in June and July are on the road, beginning with the loss at Dallas.
- “It is hard to win away from home in MLS. For a start, we were away, and when you turn the ball over so much — the most disappointing thing is we are turning it over when we are not under pressure,” said Steve Nicol to The Boston Globe. “That’s the biggest thing. When they’re breathing down your neck and putting you under pressure, you understand that. But too many times when we’re not under any pressure we are doing that, so we’re putting ourselves under pressure.”
- New England has been shut out in six of its last nine games. Their 10 goals scored are fewest in MLS. “We haven’t scored a goal in a couple games and with us if we make one mistake it usually comes back to haunt us,” goalkeeper Matt Reis said.
- The club’s two offseason French signings, Ousmane Dabo and Didier Domi, were able to return to the lineup. Dabo had missed three games after suffering a adductor strain after making his MLS debut on May 7, while Domi had been out after suffering a quadriceps strain in the April 30 match at Chivas USA. Both came off before the hour mark.
- “It was 90-something degrees and both of them had been injured and weren’t 100 percent,’’ Nicol said. “The decision to make changes was to make sure they don’t get injured again and also give us some fresh legs.’’
- The Revolution have taken just one point from seven games when they’ve allowed the first goal, ahead of just Real Salt Lake percentage-wise in MLS, who have lost both games when they’ve conceded first.
- “I thought our defense shape was good. They definitely did very well moving off the ball. We talked at halftime that we needed to pass players along better, talk better and I thought we did that.” Zak Boggs said.
- The game against FC Dallas was the 10th of 13 games against Western Conference opposition for the Revolution, the sixth in a row. Two of New England’s three wins have come in the Eastern Conference (D.C. United, Sporting KC); the Revs now face three straight opponents from the East.
