Despite the mixing and matching due to injury and international call-ups throughout the season, the Red Bulls’ defense has been one of the team’s strengths. But you had to figure that at some point the patchwork in the back just wouldn’t be able to hold up.
That moment came Sunday night when an inferior Philadelphia Union team took advantage of a back four that had not played together this season and scored twice on communication errors to come away with a 2-0 victory, much to the disappointment of 20,190 fans on Military Appreciation Night at Red Bull Arena.
It was the second straight goalless game for the Red Bulls, who were not able to take advantage of a Union team that had allowed 21 goals this season, the most in Major League Soccer, and was playing without one of its best players, midfielder Maurice Edu. Then again, we probably wouldn’t have this take on the game if the Red Bulls, who hit the post twice in the first half, capitalized on those chances. That would have forced the Union to abandon their defensive approach and it would have been a different game.
“If you look at the first half, we hit the post twice. We were a little unlucky in the second half,” goalkeeper Luis Robles said. “I think it's just one of those games where things didn't go our way. I feel like we created chances, but I think the most frustrating thing was that we had too many half-chances that don't develop into really good chances.
“I know the guys are frustrated right now. It's a long season and there's going to be games like this. I think for us it's really important to not only watch the video and see where we made mistakes, but commit to the process of improving as a team.”
Robles is right. The Red Bulls (4-2-5) controlled the first half but allowed the Union (3-7-3) to hang around. Philadelphia’s only scoring chance in the first half came on a giveaway by Roy Miller in the 14th minute. His pass from the center of the defense went right to Union forward Conor Casey, who quickly fed Cristian Maidana on a breakaway, but Robles came out and made a great save.
For the Red Bulls, an inch or two the other way and they would have been up by two goals at the break.
In the 27th minute, Mike Grella led Sacha Kljestan along the left side and the midfielder cut into the box. Kljestan drew the defense and played the ball perfectly in the path of Felipe, but his open shot from just inside the box hit the base of the left post.
Grella made a great play just before the break, stealing the ball along the end line from defender Sheanon Williams. Grella cut to his right but his shot clipped the far post and deflected away.
The Red Bulls, however, just did not play with the same energy in the second half. That, plus the back line issues, led to two Union goals.
The Red Bulls were without central defender Damien Perrinelle (hamstring), who had started the first nine games. Miller, normally a left back, moved to the center to team with Karl Ouimette. But what really hurt was a hamstring injury to left back Kemar Lawrence, who gave way to Conor Lade after just 30 minutes. Clearly, there were communication issues that followed.
The Union, energized by the insertion of C.J. Sapong for Casey in the 54th minute, scored three minutes later following a nice series of passes.
Red Bulls midfielder Dax McCarty tried to pop the ball over the Union’s Vincent Nogueira at midfield, but the ball hit Nogueira’s head and deflected to Sapong. Sapong sent it right back to Nogueira, who back-heeled the ball to Maidana. Maidana sent it wide left to Andrew Wenger, who cut right on Red Bulls defender Chris Duvall and McCarty before laying the ball back to Maidana. His shot from the top of the box was deflected into the net by Nogueira, who slipped between Miller and Ouimette.
Five minutes later it was 2-0.
Union defender Fabinho intercepted an Ouimette pass in his own half of the field on the left and sped past Ouimette along the left wing. A give-and-go with Maidana put Fabinho in the box, and his pass in front found Sapong, who cut between Miller and Lade for an easy tap-in.
“Obviously if we get the lead I think it's a very different game,” Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said. “Then they were able to survive certain moments and then make a play and then two on their end and that fed into what they were trying to do, so you have to give credit to Philadelphia on the day and know when you have two different kinds of styles going against each other, their style worked today and they were able to be sharper in certain moments than we were, so you've got to give credit to them.”
The Red Bulls had their chances, but poor finishing proved costly.
In the 75th minute, Kljestan made a great move in the left side of the box to get past the Union’s Brian Carroll, but his shot was blocked by a sliding Ethan White. The ball rolled to Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips, but his left-footed shot, as he was falling down, was blocked by Union goalkeeper Brian Sylvestre, who was already on the ground from anticipating Kljestan’s shot.
In the final moments of the match, Wright-Phillips grounded a cross from the right that substitute Anatole Abang whiffed at in front of the net, which summed up the frustrating night around the goal for the Red Bulls.
“I feel like it was a bit of a tale of two halves,” Kljestan said. “I think in the first half we were all over, probably played over 90 percent of the half in their end. We created some decent chances, hit the post a couple of times, and we come out in the second half a bit lackluster. We gave up too much space too easily and (gave) away the ball too easily. And in the end it cost us three points.”
So do we chalk this loss up to a patchwork defense breaking down, bad luck or a case of an inferior team with a good game plan that scored on its only two shots on goal in the second half?
“I think if we're able to make a couple plays tonight then we'd be pretty happy,” Marsch said. “Maybe get a lead at half, but because we weren't we have to continue to, regardless, in this process. We need to continue to figure out when we play in games like this, how do we be more effective and how to be a bit more dangerous and how to create a few more clear chances.
“Some of that's going to come with crosses, some of that's going to play with quick combination play along the line, some of it's going to come from set-pieces, so we need to continue to iron out some of those details and get better. Overall, it was pretty clear that we had command of that game, it's just a night where now they made us pay for a couple mistakes and we couldn't make them pay.”
