The Red Bulls battled and clawed their way to a 3-3 result in Portland on Sunday night. A look at the player ratings:
GK – Greg Sutton: The set piece goals are disappointing for a keeper known to use his length to control the penalty area. Couldn’t stop the own goal in the 67th minute but was clumsily guilty on the penalty kick call, which ended up not costing him as Jack Jewsbury struck post. Did make some saves but clearly his worst showing of the year. Rating: 5
D – Jan Gunnar Solli: His cross set up the Red Bulls penalty kick in stoppage time and his man-marking was solid. Probably the best performance of anyone along the backline. Rating: 6.5
D – Carlos Mendes: Positionally, Mendes seemed out of sorts all night long. Rarely seemed to dominate centrally, especially in the second half. Rating: 5
D – Stephen Keel: A tough night for Keel, who seemed to struggle and be on the receiving end of other’s breakdowns. The own goal wasn’t his fault – wrong place, wrong time sort of stuff. Rating: 4.5
D – Roy Miller: Struggled with his defensive responsibilities as Portland repeatedly picked on the left back with overlaps. Made clumsy challenges and got caught up field frequently. A poor effort all around. Rating: 4
M – Teemu Tainio: Distribution was up and down on the JELD-WEN Field turf, but defensively the holding midfielder was solid. It was a quiet night for the Finnish international but he did plenty of hard work away from the action, especially in the first half. Rating: 6
M – Mehdi Ballouchy: Floated in and out of the game for long stretches – mostly out – in a match where his possession and ease on the ball could have been used; he was invisible. Rating: 5
M – Joel Lindpere: Clearly struggling with mobility due to his foot injury, Lindpere was less than effective. Still moved forward into the attack and got involved, just seemed a step slow. Rating: 5.5
M – Austin da Luz: Goal and assist shows promise from the second year player. He showed good movement and understanding getting into the attack but defensively, still has ground to make up. Rating: 6.5
F – Dwayne De Rosario: Perhaps the most consistent player on the field for the Red Bulls, the midfielder played up top and was constantly in the attack for New York. Stoppage time penalty kick was clutch. Rating: 7
F- Thierry Henry: Passionate and feisty from the whistle, Henry carried the team on his shoulders after New York went down 3-1 in the second half. His dummy set up the first goal and he took well the team’s second score. Even his ejection caused the team to rally around his absence. Rating: 7
Substitutions:
M – John Rooney: His nine minutes showed little time on the ball but there was some good overall effort from the midfielder. Rating: 5
Kristian R. Dyer can be followed at twitter.com/KristianRDyer
