Good evening folks. We are at Giants Stadium for tonight's Red Bulls-Sounders match. It is must-win time for the Red Bulls, who are losers of five straight. The Sounders are coming off a disappointing mid-week tie vs. D.C. United.
I will be providing commentary throughout the match so please feel free to follow along her, and as always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Let's get started:
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FINAL- That's all for me. Please feel free to share your post-match thoughts in the comments section below.
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FINAL- For Seattle, tonight's performance is an impressive one for a team that flew cross-country after playing on Wednesday night. They could have won, but a draw is still a road point as the Sounders continue to move toward a Western Conference playoff spot.
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FINAL- I stand corrected on the Seattle Sounders fan presence. There are some Seattle fans here. Just didn't notice them at first, but some are here.
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FINAL- The result means the playoffs slip just a bit further away for the Red Bulls, who still have the fewest points in the league, currently tied with FC Dallas at 10 points.
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FINAL- Red Bulls 1, Sounders 1. The Red Bulls had a chance to beat a tired opponent, but couldn't break its winless skid. Jeremy Hall's first-half mistake winds up costing New York the win, though a draw is probably the fair result. In fact, considering the number of chances created by Seattle, a tie is probably a favorable result.
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93rd minute- WOW, SAVE Cepero. Great save, that looked like the winner.
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91st minute- Some fans are leaving early even though there are four minutes left and it's tied. Maybe they don't want to see a late goal given up by New York.
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90th minute- Four minutes of stoppage time.
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90th minute- Alonso with the volley but he puts it in the seats.
ESC is rocking in the 90th minute. I'm sure they're not happy with a tie but I'm sure they'd be more upset with another loss. Then again, I see state troopers getting in position so maybe they're just behaving.
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88th minute- Don't see the Red Bulls mustering a game-winner now (jinx attempt).
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85th minute- MONtero dances through the Red Bulls defense, but sends his shot off the left post. He's toying with the Red Bulls defense right now.
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84th minute- Can Wolyniec (or anybody) deliver some late magic for New York? Or will Montero create something late to keep the losing streak going?
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82nd minute- So why the loud ovation for Wolyniec? Well, he hasn't been involved in giving up bad goals, he's managed his own great late equalizer (vs. Houston) and he hasn't missed countless of chances despite a very high salary.
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81st minute- Wolyniec comes in for Celades, and yes, Wolyniec just got a LOUD ovation from the crowd.
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80th minute- Red Bulls earn a free kick after STammler is fouled five yards from the right corner of the area. A cleat to the face will earn a free kick.
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78th minute- For those wondering, I haven't seen any Sounders fan in the stands. At least not a visible contingent.
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77th minute- WOW, Seattle with a flurry of chances, including one stopped by Cepero, but the Sounders can't convert.
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75th minute- Danleigh Borman is in for Kevin Goldthwaite, who came off injured. Pacheco slides into central defense.
Roger Levesque is in for Nate Jaqua.
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70th minute- 14,313 is the attendance. Not a bad crowd considering the elements tonight.
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68th minute- Sanna Nyassi is coming in for LeToux. Even more speed for Seattle.
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65th minute- An audible RED-BULL chant is coming from the crowd. Nice to hear such enthusiasm considering the year they're having.
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62nd minute- This score just in: Crew 1, FC Dallas 0. Goal scored by none other than Eric Brunner. Just keeps getting better for Red Bulls fans.
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59th minute- Zimmerman with another left-footed blast that goes just a foot wide. For not being left-footed Zimmerman sure puts some mustard on his left-footed shots.
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57th minute- Looks like Osorio got tired of waiting. Dane Richards is coming in for Rojas.
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55th minute- Jorge Rojas has been VERY quiet tonight. I know, it's not the first time, but still. At some point he needs to make something happen.
Seattle is doing what it needs to do. Staying organized defensively and getting the ball to its dangerous players.
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54th minute- Montero sends a dangerous ball across the goal-mouth. Montero is doing what he wants on the ball.
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52nd minute- ANGEL WIDE. Great sequence, nice ball in from Zimmerman. Angel needs to finish that.
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50th minute- Celades has been pretty quiet in this game. He needs to start imposing himself on this game.
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48th minute- Drinking games for the second half: Kandji stepovers, Montero shots on goal and stoppage time goals for the Sounders. If that last one comes in Red Bulls fans are allowed to drink the whole bottle.
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47th minute- Seattle comes CLOSE on the corner but Cepero pounces.
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46th minute- SAVE CEPERO. Stops a dangerous Montero shot.
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46th minute- And we're back.
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HALFTIME- Isn't it fitting that on the day before Father's Day each team gave the other team a gift?
A tie is probably the fair result right now, but Red Bulls fans don't want to hear that.
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HALFTIME- And on the last play of the first half the Sounders equalize on a terrible mistake by Hall, who got stripped in his own area by Montero. Just unreal mistake, and yet again a Red Bulls error to close out a half.
Okay, so I'll take partial blame for jinxing them, but come on.
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45th minute- GOAL SOUNDERS!!!!!!! Montero strips Hall and beats Cepero. WOW. What a blunder.
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45th minute- Two minutes of stoppage time.
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45th minute- Oka, so maybe not, but the Red Bulls look good closing out this half (jinx alert).
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44th minute- I'm convinced that Osorio pulled a gun before the game and told his team that if anybody messes up in the final five minutes they're catching a bullet.
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43rd minute- Red Bulls nearly find another great chance. Do they know it's nearly the end of the first half?
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42nd minute- Marshall blasts a clearance off Patrick Ianni and it falls to the feet of Angel, who pounces, takes a touch past Keller, and taps into an open net. WOW.
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41st minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!!!!!!!!!! JUAN PABLO ANGEL with an absolute gift of a goal.
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40th minute- I'll save the drinking games for the second half, though this first half could have used some. I'll take suggestions.
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39th minute- Wow, did I mention how bad this game has been? Okay, to be fair, there have been some chances, but free-flowing soccer it ain't.
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37th minute- Goldthwaite with the yellow, and yes, he will now miss the Toronto FC match on Wednesday.
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34th minute- Red Bulls haven't had much good luck this year but were fortunate in that instance not to be down a goal.
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33rd minute- Montero with a header off the crossbar off a corner.
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31st minute- ZImmerman with a good shot from distance. He's never shy about taking those and usually puts a good strike on them.
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29th minute- Celades with a shot from 25 and it goes high. Nice lay-off from Angel on the play.
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26th minute- Angel continues to struggle and it really is mind-boggling how off form he is this season. He's not the lone person to blame for the Red Bulls terrible season, but he deserves his share.
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22nd minute- For those who haven't seen him, Juan Carlos Osorio is wearing a Red Bulls rain coat with sneakers on, the most underdressed he's been all year for a game. He's clearly trying to shake the team's recent funk with a little superstitious move.
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20th minute- Not much flow to this game so far. Seattle definitely has the speed to torch the Red Bulls back-line (again) and the Red Bulls are fully aware of that fact.
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16th minute- Sounders with a long free kick opportunity.
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14th minute- Ran into a few Red Bulls fans on the way in and they were sporting "Fire Osorio" rain panchos. If the Red Bulls lose tonight it may well happen.
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13th minute- Apologies for the lack of recent commentaries. I was in Florida the past two weekends and didn't get to see the Toronto FC match. Well, I saw the highlights. That was enough.
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11th minute- Kandji with a yellow after going face-to-face with Alonso. They must have been discussing the old days in the USL>
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9th minute- The Red Bulls don't have any excuses tonight. They've got pretty much a full-strength team and they're facing a squad that just played on Wednesday and traveled across the country. A loss is not an option.
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8th minute- Angel with a free header but sends it wide. He's got to get that on frame.
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6th minute- For those who didn't see, here is the Red Bulls lineup:
------------Kandji------Angel------------
Rojas-------------------------------Zimmerman
--------------Stammler---Celades---------
Pacheco-----Goldthwaite----Mendes----Hall
-----------------------Cepero-----------------------
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4th minute- Zimmerman with a nice ball in to Angel, but he can't get his shot on frame.
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3rd minute- We are under way.
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