Red Bulls defeat New England Revolution
In a hard fought match at Red Bull Arena, The New York Red Bulls secured a 2-0 win against New England Revolution thanks to goals from Dane Richards and Joel Lindpere. This was the Bulls’ first win against the Revs in the last 16 meetings between the two
sides.
The match was all the more important for the Red Bulls as only a victory could guarantee the New York based outfit their first Eastern Conference title since 2000 and a home-field advantage throughout the MLS playoffs. The victory assured the Bulls of both
prizes as now they would take away a lot of positives come the playoff showdown.
The 2-0 win further ensured that it is now mathematically impossible for the Columbus Crew to assail their (Red Bulls) lead on top.
Coach Hans Backes’ tactical brilliance was questioned given his strange choice of player positioning in the last two matches and it was expected that once again he would play Juan Pablo Angel with Mehdi Ballouchy playing as a withdrawn striker.
But one thing that people missed out on was that the Swede is a great learner and an experienced coach. He learnt from his mistakes in the last two games and this time played the classic 4-4-2 formation.
Surprisingly for everyone, he put faith in Ibrahim Salou when it was a general opinion among pundits that the Swede won’t be starting with the powerful striker and would prefer playing Juan Pablo Angel alone upfront instead.
But in this match Hans Backe got his formation right and one has to admire his tactical brilliance. He made a direct swap between Lindpere and Ballouchy for the vital game.
Ballouchy the Moroccan playmaker flourished in the flanks as he caused the Revolutions’ defense no end to troubles as he kept on stretching them throughout the game while Lindpere flourished in the centre of the park.
The Estonian’s work-rate gave the Bulls some much needed strength as they commanded the centre of the park during the full 90 minutes.
The match was already supposed to be a tough one for the New York team as their opponents, historically, always had the better of them and had not lost to the New York outfit in the last 16 games.
Bouna Coundoul was the first goalkeeper to be called into action when he parried Revs’ striker Perovic’s powerful left foot shot in the 9th minute.
Soon afterwards, the way he had done throughout the season, Jamaican player, Dane Richard broke the deadlock in the 17th minute when Juan Pablo Angel’s cutting through ball found the Jamaican, who went inside the box and unleashed a bullet shot
that went past Revs goalie Bobby Shuttleworth.
The Reds continued their superior play but were unable to add to their lead. Revs defender Joseph’s foul on Rafael Marquez echoed through the 2nd period as Revs had 3 players cautioned in a space of 10 minutes starting from the 64th
minute when Angel was fouled by Jason Griffiths.
In the 88th minute, Cameroon midfielder Tony Tchani came in for yellow-carded Rafael Marquez and got into the thick of things. Halfway into injury time, he chipped a perfect pass towards Lindpere and the Estonian calmly took the ball on his left
and then unleashed a shot with his right that the Revs goalie and Cory Gibbs watched helplessly go into the open net.
The Estonians’ celebration holding the club crest showed how much the victory meant to the team as they ended a fairytale run to season with a fine victory against a side that had always been a thorn in their side since the league’s inception.
The club that was at the bottom of the table last season won only their second Eastern Conference title and their story resembles a “from rags to riches” theme. The new Eastern Conference champions will now watch the unveiling of their first playoff opponent
this weekend and would surely be brimming with confidence whoever they get in the playoffs.
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