Revolution at New York Red Bulls, 6.10.11

I knew the outcome of this game before I had a chance to watch it. Given the Revolution’s recent slide down the standings, I wasn’t surprised to hear they lost 2-1. When I finally did settle down to watch the game, however, I was surprised and delighted by the quality of New England’s play. This was a genuinely good and exciting match, with some of MLS’s best players and characteristics on display: Thierry Henry, Shalrie Joseph, some crisp passing by both teams, lots of opportunities to score, and box-to-box physical play. True, some of the worst aspects of the league were also laid bare, including at least two inexcusably botched finishes by players from both sides. But after the last half dozen or so excruciatingly constipated matches involving the Revolution, this one felt like a gleeful rollercoaster ride on a sunny day.

Any discussion involving the Red Bulls should start with Thierry Henry. Though he’s past his prime, he’s still quietly brilliant on the ball and lends credibility to the league. (And let me add that anyone who doesn’t enjoy watching him play is not welcome to my MLS All-Star Game barbecue next month.) Henry scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal early in the second half. With the Red Bulls up 1-0, he dribbled the ball down the left side of the field and surged ahead of the defense. He then actually came to a stop to let Revs’ center back Ryan Cochrane get between him and the goal, presumably the better to toy with Cochrane. When the defender eventually did get between him and the goal, the striker quickly cut the ball back, causing Cochrane to lunge ineffectually. Henry then put the ball on to his left foot and knifed a shot between Matt Reis and Didier Domi, the ball settling into the side netting of the far post.

Henry used the side of his foot when striking the ball, as he so often does when taking shots. Some diligent soccer statistician ought to go through every one of Henry’s goals—from his national team appearances to Arsenal to Barcelona to the Red Bulls—and determine how many of them were scored off his laces. My guess is that number would be under twenty percent. Henry’s goals are calculated sniper shots, not cannon blasts.

Henry more or less scored the Red Bulls’ first goal as well, when he struck a low cross into the box and Cochrane inadvertently deflected it past Reis for an own goal. Henry was also robbed of a seemingly certain assist in the 77^th minute. He passed the ball to wide-open teammate Mehdi Ballouchy, who was waiting in front of the exposed goal like hominid in before a monolith. Ballouchy somehow missed the delivered-on-a-platter goal, his shot glancing pathetically off his foot and wide of the post. I can only imagine Henry’s anguished reaction, unfortunately not captured by the camera.

As for the Revolution, they probably should have won the game or at least notched a tie. They created a great opportunity in the 33^rd minute when Domi made a stellar pass to Chris Tierney, who was running down the left sideline. Tierney crossed the ball to Rajko Lekic in the middle, but Lekic was brought to the ground before the ball reached him. The foul resulted in a Shalrie Joseph penalty kick, which, in keeping with this frustrating season, was saved by Greg Sutton.

Speaking of good passes from French nationals, Ousmane Dabo played a tantalizing 19-minute stretch before aggravating a left hamstring injury and leaving the game. That brief span was long enough for him to make two excellent, dangerous long passes—one to Tierney in the 11^th minute and one to Domi in the 14^th—and enough to make all Revolution fans close their eyes and shake their heads in disappointment when Dabo signaled to the coaches that he needed to come off. Dabo has played only 148 minutes so far this season. You can only imagine how much better the Revs would be with him on the field for significant minutes.

But let’s move on for once to the unequivocally positive. The Revolution’s lone goal against New York was a thing of beauty. It came early in the second half, just three or four minutes after Henry’s goal put New York up 2-0. During a season in which the Revs seemingly can’t string together three passes, this goal came off a series of nine consecutive passes involving seven different Revs’ players. The build-up started from the back with Stephen McCarthy and Cochrane and featured a characteristically good pass from Domi and a deadly left-footed cross from Tierney. Tierney’s out-swinging ball sailed across the goal mouth to Zak Boggs, who was waiting at the far post about six yards out. He trapped the ball with his thigh and rammed home a right-footed volley. After so many games of failing to produce chances, the Revs worked to produce a good one and effectively finished.

The game opened up considerably when Lekic was joined up top by Kenny Mansally, who came on in the 56^th minute for Pat Phelan. As virtually everyone who has watched the Revolution this year has observed, Lekic has been all alone in the final third of the field in the Revs’ 4-5-1 formation. If this game is any indication, the Revs may move to a 4-4-2 for the remainder of the season. Mansally nearly—and should have—equalized in the 71^st minute when the Red Bulls’ normally reliable right back Jan Gunnar Solli played a slow, lazy ball back to his keeper. Mansally streaked in to intercept the pass, only to push the ball wide with a truly horrendous shot that foreshadowed the Ballouchy miss described above.

The last ten or fifteen minutes of the game were full of scoring opportunities for both teams, but it was clear the Revolution had more left in the tank than the Red Bulls. In the 85^th minute, the Revolution popped up three moon-ball headers in New York’s penalty box before an inexplicably wide-open Mansally struck a dangerous volley over the crossbar. A minute or two later, Lekic snuck a header between Sutton and the near post for the apparent equalizer. But Lekic had been flagged offside. While he and his teammates and coaches were understandably outraged, the replay showed the linesman made the right call. 

Wayne Rooney’s brother John came on for the Red Bulls in the 84^th minute. Unless I missed something, he didn’t have the slightest impact on the game, but it was mildly interesting nonetheless, like seeing Frank Sinatra, Jr.