Following the New York Red Bulls 1-0 loss to the Montreal Impact on the road, here are 7 Things We Learned:
Road Woes
The Red Bulls are struggling on the road this season. After picking up their first win in Week 1 in Atlanta, New York has dropped all six road games following.
“On the road, we go down, we can't score and we can't take a lead,” Jesse Marsch said following the loss.
The Red Bulls have a minus-6 goal differential overall, but a minus-11 goal differential in road games.
Scoring Chances
The four goals New York has scored on the road came in their first three games away from Red Bull Arena, with the only multi-goal away day coming in Atlanta.
Sacha Kljestan said the team is not doing well enough in the final third of the field and they haven’t sustained enough possession high up the field.
“We can’t all rely on Bradley Wright-Phillips to score 25 goals every season,” he said.
Robles Save
Luis Robles made yet another amazing save, stopping a rocket from Ambroise Oyongo.
The shot came from outside the 18, with pace, but Robles was able to jump to his right and get a hand on it, deflecting it wide of the goal.
It’s sure to be a Save of the Week candidate when those are announced by the league.
Disallowed Goals
Another week, another disallowed goal... Following a controversial call against Toronto FC a few weeks back, and an allowed goal in Houston earlier this year, the Red Bulls benefitted from a goal getting called off after a referee discussion.
A Montreal goal was called back after the referee crew determined a player was in an offside position and affected Robles’ read on the ball, if not possibly deflected it.
The Red Bulls keeper said the “refs were in a great position to make the call” in Montreal.
“Anytime an opposing player is standing in front of me, regardless of the ball, the fact is I'm changing my entire approach to the shot because he is screening me,” Robles said of how this type of play makes him adjust in a split-second.
Set Pieces
The lone goal in the game was the result of a set piece that New York let in, another tally for their set piece defending struggles this season.
“We gave up another set piece goal, we shut down for one second and it cost us,” Marsch said following the game.
Eleven goals this season have come from set pieces (including penalty kicks), Robles said.
“It's a very concerning trend,” Robles said. “We think about that number; if we could even defend half of those, how our season would be.”
June Struggles
In club history, New York has usually struggled in June.
The team has a 32-42-20 overall record this month, with a minus-23 goal differential.
The Red Bulls have just three other games in June, including an Open Cup game on June 14 against New York City FC.
R&R
The team has some upcoming rest days scheduled ahead of the Open Cup New York Derby, an away day at Philadelphia and an MLS Derby game later this month.
Kljestan said that these breaks are helpful for the players to help reset and clear their minds, and the team usually comes back stronger from it.
“I hope when we come back our mentality is a little bit fresher and everybody is ready to push through the summer,” he said.
