Seattle Ends Red Bulls Undefeated Streak

After going six games without a loss, the Red Bulls undefeated run finally came to an end at the hands of the Sounders on Thursday night. To be fair, the loss was inevitably coming as the Red Bulls were lucky to escape Portland with a point and during the run did not face a harder test than playing against a good team like the Sounders in Seattle. The Red Bulls started a familiar team with the back and midfield four unchanged in the last few matches. It was an interesting combination up top as De Rosario paired with Dane Richards after Luke Rodgers did not make the trip with a foot injury and Henry was suspended for the “red card” he picked up against Portland.

The Red Bulls have typically gotten off to fast starts this year, although theexact opposite happened against the Sounders as the Red Bulls found themselves 2-0 in the first fifteen minutes off a goals from Friberg and Alonso. The old adage that goals change games was certainly prevalent in the first half. Seattle, as they should be playing at home, seem energized by taking the early advantage and played with a lot of energy and intensity to essentially squeeze the Red Bulls out of the game. In large this was very effective as the Red Bulls could not maintain any effective possession, seemed very stagnant and watching the game it seemed there was no way the Red Bulls would be able to get themselves back into things. Credit has to be given to Seattle though. They worked very hard on the defensive side of the ball and did a great job of organizing defensively as soon as they lost the ball. By immediately tucking their wide midfields in once the ball was lost, they denied any pockets of space for the Red Bulls to play through. With a very compact midfield, the Red Bulls could find any rhythm in the attacking parts of the field and were often forced backwards, which eventually often resulted in unsuccessful direct balls over the top of the defense.

Things changed though in the 30^th minute as the Red Bulls were able to manage a goal from Dane Richards that was pretty much of nowhere. After picking up a little space right inside the box, Richards decided to have a go on goal and perhaps some spotty goalkeeping from Kasey Keller allowed the ball to find the side netting to cut the Red Bulls deficit to one. Again, goals change games and the rest of the half was much different. The Red Bulls seemed confident after they scored and suddenly were moving the ball around the field much quicker and more effectively. The movement off the ball was more dynamic to finally cause problems for the Sounders and allow the Red Bulls players to pick up some space in the gaps of the Seattle midfield and defense. In addition, applying more organized pressure to the ball with more numbers allowed the Red Bulls to control a lot of the proceedings for the rest of the half. However, they could not carve out many dangerous chances and the teams went into the break with the same 2-1 score line.

The second half began and just about fifteen minutes in it seemed as though the Red Bulls would again come from behind to take something from the game as they found the equalizer off an own goal from Sounders defender Zach Scott. The own goal itself was unlucky for Scott as he inadvertently deflected the ball into his own net after trying to block a cross form Solli on the right side. The Red Bulls were relatively fortunate to get back into the game, although they did have a lot of possession and control of the game to that point in the second half, so it was not completely undeserved. The comeback would be short lived though as Sounders substitute Roger Levesque scored two goals in the final 25 minutes of the game to ensure a 4-2 victory for the Sounders. The first of his brace came off yet another set piece, as he was able to flick on a header from the near post into the far side of the net off of a corner kick. The second was his reward for hard work and pressure as he essentially took the ball off of Sutton after the Red Bulls goalkeeper was caught with the ball on his feet after a back pass.

It was an incredibly soft goal for the Red Bulls to give up, but overall was not undeserved for Seattle. They worked hard on the night and as mentioned did a great job of denying space in the midfield for the Red Bulls. Specifically, Alonso did very well to step on Tainio as soon as he received the ball and not allow him to turn and pick out passes. Tainio is often utilized to start the Red Bulls attacks, however he was frequently forced to go only backwards or square with the ball, which made it difficult for the Red Bulls to effectively move forward with the ball on the floor. Henry absence was also very notable for the Red Bulls as they missed a real dangerous, creative threat up top for the whole night. De Rosario has the ability to be that man, but he was average at best on the night and failed to really stamp his mark on the game. In the end anytime you concede three goals resulting from set pieces, as the Red Bulls did against the Sounders, you can’t expect to get anything from the match and frankly don’t deserve to. Credit to Seattle for a deserving three points. For the Red Bulls, its on to the next one as they play at Chicago on Sunday.