Sounders come away with a point against the New York Red Bulls, 2-2 draw

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders looked to pick up where they left off from their Open Cup semifinal victory against Chivas USA during midweek and pick up three points against the New York Red Bulls in their final trip to the east coast this season, but in the end both teams settled for a point. The Sounders didn't get the win, but they did come away with a valuable road point after a 2-2 draw against the New York Red Bulls in Harrison, New Jersey. The Sounders return home this Wednesday for a friendly match against European Champions Chelsea. Their next league game won't be until July 28th when they travel to Dicks Sporting Goods Park to take on the Colorado Rapids.

The Sounders had control of this match early on and their first real opportunity came in the 11th minute. Brad Evans fed the ball to Eddie Johnson who did very well to get around Rafa Marquez. Evans continued his run and Johnson found him with a great through ball and Evans had a chance to put it away but Bill Gaudette came out and got a hand to it. This is the second time the Sounders faced Gaudette this season. The first time they faced him was when the LA Galaxy traveled to Seattle. Gaudette, who was acquired a couple days ago from the Galaxy, was making his Red Bulls debut in replace of rookie goalkeeper Ryan Meara who was out with a hip injury.

Five minutes later, the Sounders would open the scoring. Adam Johansson joined in on the attack and was found by Ozzie Alonso. Johansson took one touch before setting himself up to whip in a very good cross to the far post and Alvaro Fernandez was there to volley it home for his second goal in as many matches and the Sounders took a 1-0 lead. Brandon Barklage got caught at the wrong place at the wrong time and Johansson read it perfectly and found a wide open Fernandez and there was nothing Bill Gaudette could do there.

In the 21st minute, the Red Bulls had to make a change defensively. Rafa Marquez, who has been criticised by the media all season, left the game with a hip injury and was replaced by Wilman Conde, Jr. After the sub the Red Bulls changed their tactics offensively with Thierry Henry pushing up top. By the way, that was the only sub the Red Bulls made in the game. That just goes to show that head coach Hans Backe doesn't trust his bench.

In the 24th minute, the Red Bulls pulled one back and leveled this match up. Joel Lindpere poked the ball to Connor Lade who maneuvered around Adam Johansson. Lade fed Kenny Cooper who gave it a go from 25 yards out which was punched away by Bryan Meredith, but right there was Sebastien Le Toux to tap home the rebound and level it up on his Red Bulls debut against his old club. Le Toux was acquired by the Red Bulls from the Vancouver Whitecaps in exchange for Dane Richards, so we won't see him in Seattle this year. As a matter of fact, his return to Seattle last year during his time with the Philadelphia Union may be his last visit because his contract expires after this season and there are rumors that suggest that he'll move to Europe during the winter. Anyway, on the play that resulted in the goal. It looked like Marc Burch wasn't paying any attention. You cannot expect Bryan Meredith to do all the dirty work defensively, when he punches the ball aside, somebody has to get over there and clear the ball out of danger.

In the 32nd minute, the mistake nearly led to a Sounders goal. Connor Lade gave the ball straight away to Alvaro Fernandez. Fernandez sent Eddie Johnson away down the left hand side. Johnson put on the breaks and slowed things down before cutting to his right foot and drilling a shot to the far post which forced a big time save from Bill Gaudette. That mistake in the midfield showed that Connor Lade, who signed with the Red Bulls as a homegrown player during the offseason, has quite a bit to work on as the season progresses as well as his young career.

The score remained level until the 61st minute when the New York Red Bulls took advantage of a mistake in the midfield and took a 2-1 lead. The Sounders started the second half with some sloppy passing and the Red Bulls would make them pay as Brandon Barklage found Joel Lindpere who was kept onside by Jeff Parke and Adam Johansson. Lindpere cut inside of Jeff Parke and slid the ball inside the near post for his third goal of the season. You may think that Bryan Meredith could've made the save, but two things here. One, when Lindpere cut to his left foot, Meredith started to cheat toward the far post. And Two, as the shot came in, Meredith was screened by Jeff Parke which resulted in a late reaction by the goalkeeper because he couldn't see where Lindpere was going.

Following that goal, the Sounders brought on Fredy Montero in place of Mauro Rosales and in the 67th minute, the Colombian would make an impact. Adam Johansson found Brad Evans making the good run down the right hand side. Evans squared the ball across for Fredy Montero to slam it home for his fifth goal of the season and his fifth against the New York Red Bulls. There were a few more chances on both ends of the ball, but in the end, the Sounders come away with a good point on the road in a tough venue. They still sit in third place with a record of 8-5-7.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez 2 (Adam Johansson 1) 16'

New York Red Bulls - Sebastien Le Toux 5 (unassisted) 24'

New York Red Bulls - Joel Lindpere 3 (Brandon Barklage 4) 61'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 5 (Brad Evans 1, Adam Johansson 2) 67'


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Marc Burch (caution; foul) 44'

New York Red Bulls - Connor Lade (caution; foul) 53'

Seattle Sounders FC - Andy Rose (caution; handball) 66'

New York Red Bulls - Thierry Henry (caution; dissent) 74'


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Bryan Meredith; Adam Johansson, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, Marc Burch; Brad Evans (Servando Carrasco 85'), Osvaldo Alonso, Andy Rose (Leo Gonzalez 77'), Alvaro Fernandez; Mauro Rosales (Fredy Montero 62'), Eddie Johnson

New York Red Bulls - Bill Gaudette; Brandon Barklage, Markus Holgersson, Rafa Marquez (Wilman Conde 21'), Roy Miller; Joel Lindpere, Dax McCarty, Connor Lade; Sebastien Le Toux, Kenny Cooper, Thierry Henry

Sounders vs Red Bulls preview

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders return home for a Thursday night matchup at "CenturyLink" Field (yeah Qwest changed their name) against the New York Red Bulls. Last week the Sounders came away with all 3 points after defeating Toronto FC 1-0 with Fredy Montero scoring a late Free Kick goal in the 90th minute. On the other side, despite a Red Card issued to Thierry Henry in stoppage time, the Red Bulls managed to get a late goal from Dwayne De Rosario from the penalty spot to complete the comeback against the Portland Timbers. The match ended 3-3. The Red Bulls have so many pieces missing with a player suspended (Thierry Henry), players still in the Gold Cup (Juan Agudelo, Tim Ream and Rafa Marquez) and players out injured.


Injury report:

New York Red Bulls - For the Red Bulls, I'm not sure Carl Robinson's right knee contusion or Chris Albright's hernia surgery are a big blow to the team. One that's definitely a blow is Luke Rodgers out with a Left foot plantar fascitits.

Seattle Sounders FC - For the Men in Rave Green. Zakuani and White, you should know about them. Brad Evans has been added to the list with a Bruised ankle. He will not be seen tomorrow.


Suspensions:

New York Red Bulls - This was sort off bullshit because this was already worked out. Thierry Henry was sent off for no reason. He went at it with Adam Moffit of the Portland Timbers, but they shook hands, which is good sportsmanship, but then referee Ricardo Salazar went to his back pocket and gave Thierry Henry a Red Card and Moffit a Yellow. That's just ridiculous, doing something like that over a thing that was already taken care of between the players... that's just starting trouble. Thierry Henry wouldn't have got the start anyway I don't think, but still, that was ridiculous.

Seattle Sounders FC - I'm not going to bring this one up again, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado. Apparently they didn't appeal his suspension so he will not be seen on Thursday.


International absences:

New York Red Bulls - Juan Agudelo and Tim Ream are still with USA in the Gold Cup. By the way, USA defeated Panama 1-0, so they're in the final. Also Rafa Marquez for Mexico, who look to be headed to the final. It looks like another USA-Mexico matchup.

Seattle Sounders FC - For Seattle uhh........... Well, they have nobody, which is a good thing especially because this team is so jacked up.


Key matchup:

Red Bulls attacking front vs Sounders back line - Looking at the reports it looks like they're going partner up Dwayne De Rosario with Dane Richards. De Rosario is used to playing as an attacking midfielder so he can get more time on the ball as well as score more goals, which has worked out very well. Dane Richards is a winger. They're gonna be under a lot of pressure from the Sounders back line.

Sounders come up empty handed again. Juan Agudelo scores the lone goal in a 1-0 Red Bulls win

By Money Mike

After a tough 1-0 loss at home to the LA Galaxy, the Seattle Sounders traveled to Red Bull Arena to take on the New York Red Bulls, looking to bounce back and get at least a point. Instead they came away with nothing to show for as they lose their 2nd straight match 1-0 thanks to a 70th minute goal by 18-year old Juan Agudelo, it was his first MLS goal. Remember he made his international debut for the United States national team on November 17, 2010, against South Africa at 17 years of age and scored in that match which made him the youngest player in U.S. soccer history to score on his international debut.

New York had a chance to go ahead early when Thierry Henry's ball found Juan Agudelo behind the Seattle defense. Agudelo with his brilliant piece of skill, cut the ball back and drew contact from Jhon Kennedy Hurtado which resulted in a Penalty Kick. Of course, you would expect Thierry Henry to take the penalty because he's one of the best PK takers in the game. However, Henry tried to go low into the bottom left corner of the goal but Kasey Keller read it perfectly and tipped it wide.

The game was pretty much a back and forth battle for the rest of the first half since the penalty miss by Henry. Seattle had few good scoring chances. In the 16th minute, Fredy Montero sent Alvaro Fernandez alone behind the Red Bull defense, but his touch sent the ball to the right of goalkeeper Greg Sutton. Montero would test Sutton again in the 27th minute as he tried a shot from just inside the half-way line as he caught him well off his line but Sutton punched it away. In the 39th minute, Fernandez and Montero hooked up again as Montero ran onto a weighted ball and ripped a shot from a tight angle that was tipped by Greg Sutton who recovered the loose ball before O'Brian White could follow in on the rebound. The two combined again in the final minute of the first half as Montero beat Tim Ream before hitting the post from an impossible angle.

In the 51st minute, the Red Bulls tested Keller long range when defender Rafa Marquez lashed one that just sailed over. Seven minutes later, a corner from Marquez found his teammate, Mehdi Ballouchy but his touch just rolled wide right of Kasey Keller.

In the 70th minute, the Red Bulls found the breakthrough when Teemu Tainio's long ball found Juan Agudelo behind the defense. Agudelo shrugged off Leo Gonzalez and off the outside of his boot, slotted the ball past Kasey Keller into the net for his first MLS goal to give the Red Bulls a 1-0 lead with 20 minutes to go.

In the 88th minute, New York nearly put the game away from the corner when Rafa Marquez found Tony Tchani unmarked, but his header was punched over the bar by Kasey Keller.

Seattle had a golden opportunity to draw level when Fredy Montero's free kick was punched by Greg Sutton and Lamar Neagle's rebound sailed over the bar. And that proved costly as Seattle ends up getting shut out again and are off to an 0-2 start to begin 2011.

Area Seattle needs to improve on next game:

Finishing is one, but the most important one is to get more people to commit forward. I cannot remember one time in this match when we had 5-6 players on the attack. Also, an even bigger problem, go after the ball at all times. Every time New York has had position of the ball, rather than going after them, the Sounders just back off and let their opponents burn them in every way. Having only your two strikers commited and 8 other outfield players in their own area backing away and not going after the ball is unacceptable and it's never Seattle's game. Their game is ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK, go after the ball for 9o minutes, and they obviously didn't do that, which is never good and that needs to change in their match against the Houston Dynamo.

Scoring Summary:

New York Red Bulls - Juan Agudelo (Teemu Tainio) 70'

Misconduct Summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (caution) 61'

Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC: Kasey Keller (captain); James Riley, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Leonardo Gonzalez; Alvaro Fernandez (Mauro Rosales 68'), Servando Carrasco (Lamar Neagle 80'), Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg; Fredy Montero, O'Brian White (Roger Levesque 73')

New York Red Bulls: Greg Sutton; Jan Gunnar Solli, Rafael Marquez, Tim Ream, Roy Miller; Dane Richards (Danleigh Borman 90'), Teemu Tainio, Mehdi Ballouchy (Tony Tchani 68'), Joel Lindpere; Juan Agudelo, Thierry Henry (captain)