Well, there goes that. After six straight matches where New York had outplayed their opponent, the Red Bulls were a dud on Saturday night against Real Salt Lake. The player ratings from Saturday night’s 1-0 loss at Rio Tinto Stadium:
GK – Greg Sutton: Can’t be faulted at all on RSL’s fourth-minute goal and made a superb save on Robbie Findley at the 35th-minute mark – maybe the best one in MLS this season. Took his knocks and made his stops. A great showing. Rating: 7.5
D – Chris Albright: The only solid presence on the right side of the field for New York. Albright marked well and moved forward with some confidence. Rating: 6
FULL MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: Real Salt Lake 1, New York 0
D – Carlos Mendes: Looked to be caught a bit out of position on the RSL goal. Overall solid but not one of his better displays. Rating: 5.5
D – Tim Ream: Looked awful on the goal and missed a header that Salt Lake should have capitalized and scored on. Had some bad giveaways; disappointing since distribution has been his strongest. Rating: 3
D – Danleigh Borman: Rarely seemed lost on the left side and made some nice runs forward in the second half. Rating: 6
M – Macoumba Kandji: A horrible game by Mac, who did little other than complain and pick up silly fouls. Ineffective yet again. Rating: 3
M – Seth Stammler: It was a solid match from Stammler, who was one of a handful of New York players in the first half who seemed to have any idea which direction forward was. Rating: 6.5
M – Tony Tchani: Did very little to stop the Real midfield from attacking. Distribution was spotty and looked lost without Rafa Márquez next to him. Rating: 4.5
M – Joel Lindpere: Got the ball precious few times on the left flank, but when he did, he showed good imagination and solid touches. Rating 6.5
F – Juan Pablo Angel: Rarely touched the ball in the first half. Suffered from poor service but had two good chances to score in the second half. Rating: 5.5
F – Thierry Henry: Like Ángel, had little service to work with but the balls he did get, he squandered with bad touches and slow decisions. Rating: 4.5
Substitutions
M - Sinisa Ubiparipovic: Tough game to come into and play on the right wing, with so much of the Red Bulls’ attack coming down the left side. Rating: 5
F – Salou Ibrahim: Late substitution does not warrant a rating.
Kristian R. Dyer can be reached for comment at KristianRDyer@yahoo.com and followed at twitter.com/kdyer1012
