The New York Red Bulls take on the Chicago Fire at Giants Stadium today and the Red Bulls come in desperately needing points to catch up with the lead pack in the East. The Fire is in first place in the East and will look to extend its unbeaten streak to ten matches.
I will be providing commentary throughout the match so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action.
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FINAL- Man of the match today goes to Chris Rolfe for finishing the Fire's best and arguably only quality chance of the day. For the Red Bulls, it was Kevin Goldthwaite, who was a rock in the balck for New York today. Nobody in the Red Bulls attack is close to being deserving, and if anything, Angel was the Red Bulls' worst attacking player today.
That's all for me. Share your post-game thoughts on the match in the comments section below.
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FINAL- Fire 1, Red Bulls 0.
Disappointing result for the Red Bulls, who played one of their better games of the season, but better wasn't going to be enough with the poor finishing and decision-making in the final third.
Chicago bent defensively, but never made too costly an error and showed great discipline and cohesiveness. It says something when a team can not play its best but still win. The Fire didn't dazzle, but took its best chance and goalkeeper Jon Busch helped it stand up.
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91st minute- BORMAN SOOO CLOSE. Header is saved by Busch. WOW.
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90th minute- Richards gets behind the Fire defense but goes for a sharp-angled shot instead of the pass. Bad decision.
Two minutes of stoppage.
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89th minute- Red Bulls get another corner.
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87th minute- Red Bulls corner. Wasted.
Richards just finished off a long and dangerous run, but when he gets a lucky bounce that springs him in the box, he holds on too long and settles for a corner. Another wasted chance.
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86th minute- Nyarko is in for Rolfe.
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85th minute- Angel gets a great ball and runs into the area, but he fails to create a good angle for a shot. This just isn't like Angel.
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82nd minute- Angel with an awful touch on a promising sequence. He's just been bad today and the Red Bulls can't beat a team like the Fire with Angel playing this poorly.
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80th minute- Celades with a great move to beat two Fire defenders but nobody can get to his pass in the area.
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78th minute- Kandji with a nice run forward but Angel doesn't get to the pass before Ward intercepts. Not Angel's best day today.
Kandji and Richards with a nice combination to force a corner.
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74th minute- The Red Bulls have tried this new lineup but still aren't finding results, and the chances they created in the first half have disappeared in the second. Who will step up for the Red Bulls, or will the Fire put the match away in clinical fashion with a second goal?
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71st minute- Fire corner kick.
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68th minute- 10,762 is the attendance today. Looks more like 4,000.
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66th minute- Dane Richards moves over to the left side to try and go at Ward. He hasn't had much luck with Segares through the years.
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64th minute- Chicago is just so organized and rarely gives up too much space.
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62nd minute- Danleigh Borman is in for Ubiparipovic.
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60th minute- Celades with a clear look at goal and has his shot saved by Busch. He needs to do better there.
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58th minute- This formation, in theory, should cause some match-up problems for Chicago, with Kandji attacking from a variety of locations. Chicago looks to be handling it well early on.
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55th minute- Richards comes in for Petke and the Red Bulls move into what looks like a 3-4-3 formation, with Kandji floating around free.
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51st minute- Dane Richards is coming into the match.
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46th minute- And we're back.
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HALFTIME- No subs for either team.
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HALFTIME- Can it really be Alfredo Pacheco with another error that costs the team a goal? He lost Rolfe on the goal. Apparently the haircut didn't help.
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HALFTIME- Is there something about the stoppage time indicator that makes the Red Bulls fall apart? It's just amazing how many times they'll come unglued at the end of a half or game.
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HALFTIME- Rolfe just owns the Red Bulls.
Juan Carlos Osorio has to be at a loss for words. He watches the Red Bulls have the better of the play but the Fire takes and finishes its only real chance. The game is all about finishing chances and the Fire did that while the Red Bulls didn't.
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45th minute- GOAL FIRE!!!!! Chris Rolfe with the finish.
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44th minute- Pacheco with a yellow card for a handball.
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43rd minute- The Red Bulls need to take better advantage of their chances because those chances won't be there in the second half. Well, not as many will be.
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40th minute- Jeremy Hall with a nice play. He's been solid all day. Marco Pappa has no impact on this match.
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34th minute- The Fire is pretty much bypassing the midfield and sending long balls to McBride and Blanco. Pappa and Rolfe really should be more involved in this game.
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33rd minute- Angel header saved by Busch off a nice ball in from Stammler.
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30th minute- Wasted corner. Are there any other kind for the Red Bulls?
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29th minute- The Red Bulls have moved the ball around very well here. Chicago's applying some pressure but are mainly chasing the game here.
Red Bulls corner.
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24th minute- Blanco has yet to have an impact on this match. He's spent a lot of time very high, near the central defenders. Not sure if he will find much success there. Looks like he's trying to match himself up against Petke, the least athletic of the four Red Bulls defenders.
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20th minute- No score yet but there has been some good ball movement and intent to attack. Chicago is so potent on the counterattack that it's only a matter of time before they find some chances. That said, the Red Bulls are staying in good positions.
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18th minute- Wolyniec just hit a blast at Busch that went right at the Fire keeper, but was still impressively hit.
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17th minute- Rolfe gets a yellow for fouling Kandji, who puts a great move on to get past Ward. That's the match9up the Red Bulls want.
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16th minute- The Fire will be keying on Albert Celades and trying to pressure him at every turn. They know he's the key to the Red Bulls attack today.
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14th minute- Anybody else think Pacheco lost a bet and that's why he cut his hair off? In all seriousness, the Rolfe-Pacheco battle will be an important one today.
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13th minute- So why play Kandji on the left? Tim Ward is A) a key threat on the overlap and B) Kandji is a very tough match-up for him defensively. What ultimately matters for Kandji is the midfield creating chances and getting him service. Whether he's up top or on the flank, he needs good passes his way.
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11th minute- Blanco's still down. Must be the turf monster.
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9th minute- What a shock, Blanco is on the ground.
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4th minute- Wolyniec gets the start after a handful of quality performances. Kandji will patrol the left flank. The reason for that has as much to do with making Tim Ward defend as wanting Kandji to attack from the wing.
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2nd minute- Here is Chicago's lineup:
------------------McBride---------------------
Pappa------------Blanco---------------Rolfe
-------------Pause------Thorrington--------
Segares---Conde------Soumare-----Ward
------------------Busch------------------------
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1st minute- And we're off.
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PRE-GAME- Here is the Red Bulls lineup-
--------------Wolyniec-------Angel-----------------
----------------------Celades--------------------------
Kandji--------------------------------Ubiparipovic
----------------------Stammler-----------------------
Pacheco----Goldthwaite----Petke-----------Hall
