The New York Red Bulls were away to the Chicago Fire this weekend in a match that was perhaps seen by many as a way for the team to redeem themselves after an underwhelming result against Orlando City FC two weekends ago.

With the return of the likes of Kaku, Aaron Long, Kemar Lawrence and Michael Murillo, the Red Bulls had a full strength defensive line and their star creative player back in the line-up. Despite this however, the result did not go in favor of last year’s winners of the Supporters Shield. Chicago pressed the out of form New York team and managed to pry all 3 points in their favor, courtesy of a Tim Parker own goal, making this the second 1-0 loss the Red Bulls have suffered in a row. Let’s take a look at some of the key takeaways from this game.  

Fire Beat Red Bulls 1-0

Despite reinforcements, defensive woes continue

Last week against Orlando City, it was easy to pin the blame of defensive errors on the fact that the back line was missing some of its essential pieces, namely Long and Lawrence. This week, however, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that the Red Bulls put on an even more tepid display, with the likes of Nemanja Nikolić and Przemysław Frankowski cutting through the defense with ease on a multitude of occasions. The first of these saw the two former Polish Ekstraklasa players link up beautifully, with Frankowski’s pass through the center of the box to Nikolić completely evading  Lawrence and Co. which left Nikolić one-on-one with Luis Robles, but the former Legia Warszawa frontman failed to convert his golden opportunity. 

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Nikolić would receive opportunity after opportunity to put Chicago in front, another quality chance coming in the 37th minute after a headed ball in midfield found its way to his feet. The former Hungarian international found himself between Long and Parker, but his shot was poked just wide of the near post. 

Fans would have to wait until the second half for the first and only breakthrough of the game, and curiously enough, despite the creativity shown by Chicago throughout the match, the only goal of the game result in scrappy play within New York’s penalty box. A ball sent in by Chicago’s Marcelo dos Santos Ferreira (Marcelo) found its way to Nikolić, whose effort bounced off of the post. The rebounding ball would then hit an onrushing Parker, who admittedly would have found it very difficult to clear. The deflection off of Parker sent the ball over the line and Chicago took the lead. 

While many will look at the own goal by Parker as one of the key moments in the game, it’s important to note here that this was only one of many instances where the Red Bulls defense failed to do their job. As mentioned earlier, both Frankowski and Nikolić had a plethora of opportunities on goal in this match, and all of it resulted from fairly simple play. Nikolić, for example, was able to send it low, driving balls to his teammates on a number of occasion in the exact same fashion, which was a very troubling thing to watch. To have the defense cut open on multiple occasions by the same move should be something head coach Chris Armas will surely be furious about and looking to remedy for the next game.

Having seen the lackluster performances of certain players in the defensive line, it makes me wonder whether or not it might not be a good idea to have Amro Tarek start at the back for the next game alongside Long. Tarek had a solid performance against Orlando City despite the loss, so it may be in Chris Armas’ interest to give the player another run out while in form. 

Muyl and Robles continue to perform, Schweinsteiger a center back?:

Despite the lackluster team performance, both Alex Muyl and Luis Robles continued to be bright spots for the Red Bulls as the New York side struggles to find its form. Muyl put in another workhorse-like performance that delineates his value to the team. Muyl showed his skills with a very intelligent dummy for Bradley Wright-Phillips in the 37th minute and provided a few good crosses that could have been more effective had the team been more on point in the match.  Muyl also linked well with Daniel Royer and Murillo on a couple occasions, which is worth noting. Robles on the other hand made sure that his leaky defense didn’t concede more than one goal in the match, stopping shots from Nikolić, Frankowski and a Bastian Schweinsteiger rocket in the 50th minute.

Perhaps the most interesting facet of this game for me, however, was watching Schweinsteiger play as a center back. The former Bayern Munich man and German international has always been well-known for his midfield prowess, spending most of his career as a dominant force at the center of the park for Bayern, but to see him play at the back so well showed once again how much class the man possesses, and despite my Schwarzgelben loyalties, it would be wrong to not credit the “Basti” for a very good performance.  

Looking Forward:

The New York Red Bulls will face Minnesota United at home this coming weekend. The fairly young MLS franchise has had a similarly rocky start to their season, having lost their last two games to the LA Galaxy and New England Revolution despite picking up six points in the first two match days. With the home advantage to their benefit, the Red Bulls should get back to winning ways in this game, and fans will surely be hoping to see improvements to the recent defensive frailties that are perhaps becoming a bit of a trend. 

The New York Red Bulls hosted Orlando City FC at the Red Bull Arena this weekend in their third MLS game of the season. The two sides played out a very gritty game filled with more fouls than goals, each team doing their best to stifle the others buildup by putting in hard tackles and attempting to capitalize on mistakes.

Despite the constant shift in momentum between the two sides, it was former Red Bulls captain Sacha Kljestan that broke the deadlock late in the second half. Kljestan came back to haunt his former side with the only goal of the game, sealing the win for Orlando. Let’s take a look at some of the key takeaways from this weekends matchup.

Orlando City FC Vs. Red Bulls Recap

Defensive mistakes prove costly:

The New York Red Bulls had their fair share of defensive blunders to clean up throughout this game, and it didn’t help that many key squad components were missing. With defensive stalwarts Aaron Long and Michael Amir Murillo missing because of international duty, The Red Bulls played a makeshift back line that saw Tim Parker line up at the center with new signing Amro Tarek, while Connor Lade and Kyle Duncan played wide of the central pairing to complete a back four.

The Red Bulls played their usual high line despite missing key pieces and playing others out of position, and this proved to be a problem as Orlando succeeded in tearing through the back four on multiple occasions. Curiously enough,it would be Tarek, rather than Parker, who would impress at central defense. Tarek put in a solid shift in spite of being played out of position, cutting out passes and stopping dangerous attacks. Tarek made a few good blocks in and around the box, notably stopping a dangerous cross by Kljestan in the 42nd minute and intercepting a cutting pass outside the Red Bull box 12 minutes later. 

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Parker, on the other hand, would have a game to forget as the Hicksville born center back looked uneasy from the first whistle. Orlando’s players often found it much too easy to get past Parker, who was responsible for failing to clear the cross that led to Kljestan’s goal. Similarly, in the 92nd minute, Parker lost the ball right outside of the box to an onrushing Dom Dwyer. Parker would go on to recover the ball a few moments later, but his defensive frailty in this match was a key reason as to why the Red Bulls failed to come away with a single point in this game.

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A Tale of Two Keepers – Robles and Rowe Impress:

While fans may be disappointed there weren’t a few more goals in this game, it can’t be said that the fixture was without its heart-stopping moments. It’s just that in this case, these moments were provided by the keepers, who were both in stellar form on the evening. Both Luis Robles and Orlando City’s Brian Rowe proved difficult to beat for the opposing side. Rowe was responsible for some spectacular saves, the first of which came five minutes into the game as Alex Muyl sent a strong header in after an ensuing Red Bulls corner. This would be the first of many stellar saves that would prove crucial to Orlando, which ended up coming away with all three points.

Robles also had a fantastic night, despite not coming away from the match with a clean sheet. The game could have easily ended with New York going down 3 or 4 goals had it not been for New York’s captain and his commanding presence in the penalty box. His punches were key to breaking up chances Orlando created, but the most stellar save in my book came in the 51st minute. Kljestan managed to find Orlando’s Ruan Teixeira with a ball out to the left. Ruan, unmarked, would find himself in space and one-on-one with Robles, who came up big to stop the Brazilian from putting Orlando ahead. If the Red Bulls can take any comfort from this game, it is that Robles is as spry and lively as ever, and still able to save blushes for his back line.  

Muyl and Rzatkowski show determination as Red Bull offense misfires: 

While the defense dealt with its own problems, the midfield and offense also seemed out of sorts throughout the game against Orlando. The Red Bulls were without the creative presence of Alejandro Sebastián Romero Gamarra (Kaku) as the winger is away on international duty with Paraguay. Often one of the main driving forces in the attacking half for New York, his absence was very telling, especially as fans were forced to watch Bradley Wright-Phillips come back into the midfield to try and help with the buildup.

What New York lacked in creativity, however, they made up with verve and determination ,as both Marc Rzatkowski and Alex Muyl put in solid shifts, doing much of the running for the Red Bulls. Rzatkowski did his best to create chances for New York, lobbing the ball in over the Orlando defense on numerous occasions and standing over a couple decent free kicks.

Muyl was a workhorse for the entirely of the game as well, running up and down the pitch attempting to create and finish chances at every opportunity. Muyl went into tackles hard, attempting to win every ball and even put in a solid shift at the back as well, covering in places New York’s defenders could not. It was no wonder Muyl was so disappointed at the end of the game, his face a telling reflection of how most of the team must have felt: “we can do better.” 

Final thoughts and comments:

Despite the disappointing nature of the loss, The New York Red Bulls thankfully have all season to make up for it. The result itself was in part the effect of a poor performance, but also due to the team missing key figures through injury and international duty. The return of Long, Kaku and Murillo should lift the team in their next game, which happens to be away to the Chicago Fire. The Fire hold an identical record to the Red Bulls this season, with both teams sporting a win, a loss and a draw so far. One can only hope that come next weekend, Red Bulls fans have three points to cheer about and the team can put this loss aside as a blip in what still very much has the potential to be a solid season.