HANOVER, N.J. – If recent form is any indication, it appears the Red Bulls have corrected their course.
On the heels of a four-game losing streak, New York now find themselves unbeaten in their last three. Following two straight wins at Red Bull Arena, the Red Bulls hit the road and collected their first point away from home after a 1-1 draw with Orlando City SC.
“It showed character,” goal scorer Bradley Wright-Phillips said on Monday. “I don’t think it was our best game of football, but we dug in. That’s something we asked for a couple of weeks ago when we couldn’t buy a win or a draw. It showed a bit of growth from earlier in the season, so it was nice to come away with a point.”
It wasn’t the prettiest of matches, but the outcome was a net positive for a Red Bulls team looking to continue their upward trajectory in the standings. And despite bagging three goals over two meetings with the Lions, Wright-Phillips insisted that Orlando have posed perhaps the sternest tests to date.
“It’s one of the toughest teams I’ve played against,” he added. “I feel like Orlando gives you no time, no space; I don’t know how I’ve managed to get three goals against them. I’ve found a lot more space in other games, but credit to those guys; apart from the goal, I didn’t get a sniff.”
Notching the all-important first goal of the match, the early strike allowed the Red Bulls to play a more composed match on the road. Not forced to chase the game, head coach Jesse Marsch saw his side play a more relaxed brand of football, something he pointed to as a key factor during his side’s unbeaten run.
“We’ve been able to control games in a better manner and understand how to commit to the way we want to play,” Marsch said. “That’s meant that we have a better grasp on things. Certainly the games at home were good in terms of really playing on our terms.
“Then you go down to a place like Orlando, and the combination of playing a good team, playing on tough turf, and a crazy crowd means that it’s a tough environment. At the end of it all, maybe we could have come away with three points, but getting a point keeps the momentum moving forward in the right way.”
Standing just above the red line in the Eastern Conference at 3-6-1, the Red Bulls know their work is far form finished. But the ability to string together positive results will be essential if New York are to overcome their slow start, and a road point in a hostile environment goes a long way to doing just that.
“We had yet to get a point on the road, so it’s a good start,” goalkeeper Luis Robles said. “During the season—of course it’s 34 games—you want to go on these little runs; we did that successfully in 2013 and 2015. But we also understand that the games up ahead won’t be easy. We’ve got some conference opponents, a couple of them against rivals, so we’re just going to take it one game at a time. But obviously, we’re feeling good right now.”
