Red Bulls fall to Revolution after a stoppage time goal
HARRISON, N.J. (BVM) — The New York Red Bulls suffered a back-breaking defeat against the MLS-leading New England Revolution at home in what was a back-and-forth match.
New York came extremely close to gaining a point tonight, holding at least a draw for the entire game until Adam Buska鈥檚 stoppage time goal.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a horrible feeling right now,鈥� said captain Sean Davis. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the same lesson all over again. How many times do we have to go through this before we can finish the game?鈥�
The Red Bulls loss came largely due to an injury bug decimating the defense, missing first-team defenders Aaron Long, Sean Nealis and Andres Reyes in their loss.
Outside of the defense, there were some bright spots in the game from other areas of the pitch.
Eighteen-year-old Venezuelan midfielder Wilkeman Carmona opened up the scoring with a long shot into the bottom right corner in the 8th minute. It was his first MLS goal in five starts since joining the Red Bulls this season.
New England missed chances throughout the first half, as the New York defense held on thanks to brilliant work from its goalkeeper Carlos Coronel. 22 minutes in, Adam Buska hit the post and Coronel made a close-quarters save on Thomas McNamara鈥檚 chance from the rebound.
Buska also missed a header late in the first half as Coronel managed to nudge the shot over the goal.
After being kept quiet early, red-hot forward Gustavo Bou tied up the game with a brilliant strike into the top right corner in the 60th minute.
The New England lead did not last long, as Fabio Gomes snuck a shot by the keeper to give the Red Bulls a 2-1 lead less than three minutes later.
That would be the end of New York鈥檚 scoring, as the Revolution would get two goals from聽
Brandon Bye and Adam Buska in the final 10 minutes to win 3-1.
In the final third, NY moved the ball spectacularly, thanks to the link-up play from forward Fabio Gomes and midfielder Caden Clark. (18th in total passes completed in the final third entering tonight).
Coach Gerhard Struber credited the scoring success to the variety the offense showed in the final third.聽
鈥淭his in the end was a good mix between playing on the ground though windows, and also with chip balls,鈥� said Struber. 鈥淢y attackers have good movements and make good layoffs. I think it was a good step, not with the right point, but with young players this is never easy.鈥�
Despite the strong signs from the likes of offensive players like Gomes and Carmona, defense remains a problem for the Red Bulls.聽
When asked if the team was close to signing a center back to bolster the defense, head coach Gerhard Struber made it clear that help was on its way.
鈥淲e are very close to doing something in our center,鈥� said Struber. 鈥淗opefully we can realize that in the next few days, I think it鈥檚 very important to finish a transfer for my whole team.鈥�
With the transfer window closing this Thursday, time is running out for New York to find help.
