The Red Bulls knew a tough challenge lied ahead on Saturday, facing a FC Dallas club that came into the night with one loss on the season. The team responded admirably, notching three goals, by three different players, and came away with a 3-0 win.
Even more impressive was the character shown by the Red Bulls, having to play a man down, after Daniel Royer picked up a red card in the 27th minute.
"It was a show of our character," Head Coach Jesse Marsch said. "We talk a lot around here about our style of play and our tactics and all the different things that we try to be about from a soccer, technical perspective. But this was more to do about the character of the group, and their commitment, and their mentality, and their will on the day to play for each other and do whatever it was going to take."
"Obviously it showed great character," Bradley Wright-Phillips said. "I think everyone dug in, you can’t pick out one player that didn’t play well today. Credit to the club and to the coaches."
Captain Luis Robles, was also impressed with the team's performance and spoke about building from this win.
"Overall, as a team, we are a phenomenal team," Robles said. "When we think about the fact that we played at least 60 minutes a man down, I’m not sure exactly what minute that happened, but it felt like for the majority of the game we played a man down and yet I can’t think of a clear-cut chance. The way the team played defense was absolutely incredible and yet everything that we’ve seen we know that we’re capable of that and even more. So, for us, it’s this idea that we’ve got to continue to build off of each performance and build towards what we want to be and that is a championship team."
With the win, the Red Bulls are now in sole possession of second place in the Eastern Conference, and four points away from the Supporters Shield. The teams' next match will be on Sunday, July 1, against Toronto FC.
