D.C. United vs. New York Red Bulls – Playoff Game Recap
The old time I-95 bitter rivalry continues to thrive, as New York Red Bulls came on top of last night first leg of Major League Soccer’s Eastern semifilnas.
Hosts United created very few chances, and appeared to be controlling the ball for short spans, but visitors New York Red Bulls appeared to be in control for most of the game.
The first chance came for United when former Red Bull Fabian Espindola passed from the far corner to Alvaro Saborio who tried to head in from top of the six-yard , with no luck (22’).
Red Bull’s Mike Grella was then assisted by Bradley Wright-Phillips, and took a shot from the left side of the six-yard box, to be saved at the bottom-left corner by D.C.’s keeper Bill Hamid (33’).
Coming back from halftime with no goals, Hamid denies Grella onece again, but saving a header from the center of the box (58’).
The first, and only goal of the match did come eventually, late in the second half. It was former D.C. United, now Red Bulls captain Dax McCarty who scored the winner. Sacha Kljestan took a free kick 25 yards from goal, and the ball found McCarty who shook off United’s defender inside the box and scored from the far post.
D.C. United 0 – 1 New York Red Bulls
To keep their hopes alive for the MLS Eastern Conference Championships, D.C. United must address their lack of possession and control in midfield (the Red Bulls dominated overall possession with 58%), and work on passing accuracy that was very poor (56% compared to Red Bulls’ 72%).
This resulted in New York taking 18 shots throughout the match, double than D.C.’s 9; of which 9 were on target, compared to D.C.’s 0.
The team meet again for the second leg on Sunday November 8th, when D.C. United Travel to face New York Red Bulls at home.
