WASHINGTON – The mentality during the week was spot on, but the end product left something to be desired.
Traveling south to the nation’s capital to take on their long-standing rivals, the New York Red Bulls came out flat, dropping a disappointing 2-0 result to D.C. United.
In their second straight match on the road, head coach Jesse Marsch elected to make some changes to the side that battled to a 1-1 draw in Orlando a week prior, inserting Chris Duvall and Gonzalo Veron for Ronald Zubar and Lloyd Sam, respectively.
With Veron making his return to the starting lineup for the first time in nearly two months, the Red Bulls came out in the two-forward formation that had routinely been used throughout preseason and the early stages of the campaign. But despite the change, New York could not manage to solve United goalkeeper Travis Worra on the night.
“I would say I have to take a big load of responsibility here,” Marsch said of his team’s performance. “We came into a rivalry game, one that we knew would require a team that in all ways was up for the competition, and we came up 0-for-11 there, so you have to look at me.”
Early chances for Felipe and Dax McCarty went by the wayside, but their opponents were not quite as wasteful with their opportunities.
Taking advantage of some positional uncertainty on the Red Bulls’ backline, United found the opener just 20 minutes in, as Patrick Nyarko played a perfectly weighted ball behind the defense. Midfielder Marcelo Sarvas collected the ball with time and space, electing to square it centrally for a wide-open Alvaro Saborio who made no mistake at the doorstep.
The Red Bulls looked to get their legs back underneath them in the minutes that followed, but routinely lacked the final pass in the attacking third to truly test United’s defense.
Before the stroke of halftime, D.C. managed to double their lead with Nyarko once again at the center of it all, this time volleying home a Lamar Neagle cross at the far post.
“It just wasn’t a professional performance by us,” Mike Grella told NewYorkRedBulls.com. “We talked about keeping that level of intensity and urgency that we’ve had for the past few weeks, but we didn’t do that tonight.”
The second half saw few chances for either side, but United’s prowess in front of goal in the first stanza proved to be the difference as the Red Bulls must find a way to bounce back during a quick week as they welcome the Chicago Fire to Red Bull Arena on Wednesday.
“We just need to have a short memory,” defender Chris Duvall said. “We need to go back to things that were helping us to win, run off the ball, work defensively and keep them off the scoreboard. We’re giving up way too many goals, so that’s what we’ll be focusing on going into the next game.”
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