The Red Bulls picked up their first ever win at PPL Park, beating the Philadelphia Union 3-2 with goals from Joel Lindpere, Markus Holgersson, and Kenny Cooper. Lindpere scored early on to give New York the lead before Lionard Pajoy leveled for Philadelphia. Freddy Adu was sent off for simulation late in the first half, but the Union took the lead shortly after the break and looked far the better side throughout.

Philly will rue some of their fifty missed chances and messed-up counter-attacks, and the Red Bulls looked tired and lacking sharpness at the back, but New York managed to score more of the (few) chances they created, and will be more than happy to head home for a bit of rest with three points and first place in the Eastern Conference.

More to come....

Selected Stats (NY - PHI)

Possession: 54% - 46%

Passing Accuracy: 84% - 75%

Total Passes: 446 - 357

Corners: 1 - 11

Open Play Crosses: 16 - 18

Fouls: 16 - 14

Shots (On Goal): 9(4) - 21(6)

New York Red Bulls vs. Philadelphia Union
Sunday, May 13, 12:30 PM EDT
Some Rubbish Ground, Chester, PA
Form: RBNY DLWWW | PHI DWWLL
Moving Picture Box Coverage: ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com
SBN Filth Perspective: Brotherly Game

Apparently there was some football earlier today -- I had no idea myself, but some people seemed a bit excited by it. Anyway, the serious business is the Red Bulls against the Filthadelphia Union for a weirdly early afternoon kickoff. After KC's collapse against Chicago last night, we can go top of the Eastern Conference with a win. Let's do that

Hans Backe has made two changes to the team that beat LA and Houston already this week, with Rafa Marquez returning to the midfield in place of Jan Gunnar Solli and Roy Miller returning to left back, with Connor Lade on the substitutes' bench.

Lineups

Red Bulls (4-5-1 or 4-4-1-1): Ryan Meara; Brandon Barklage, Markus Holgersson, Tyler Ruthven, Roy Miller; Rafa Marquez, Dane Richards, Dax McCarty, Joel Lindpere, Mehdi Ballouchy; Kenny Cooper

Bench: Jeremy Vuolo, Connor Lade, Jonathan Borrajo, Ryan Maduro, Victor Palsson, Jhonny Arteaga, Juan Agudelo

Filth: Zac MacMath, Michael Farfan, Gaddis, Valdes, Williams, Freddy Adu, Gomez, Carroll, Keon Daniel, Lionard Pajoy, Danny Mwanga

Bench: Harrison, Martinez, Hoffman, Okugo, Lopez, Hernandez, Herdling

Let's win.

Some tidbits to carry you through the next 20 hours until the Red Bulls kick off against the Philadelphia Union.

First up, Hans Backe echoing his U.S. Open Cup sentiments from the off-season...

"Yes, we want to win the Cup this year,’’ said Backe, whose team enters the competition in the third round on May 29.

Next up, Erik Soler on the kind of ridiculous Alessandro Nesta rumors...

"Normally, I don’t comment, but all I can say is we have no deal with anybody," Solér told media after Friday’s practice. "No sign, no verbal, no nothing."

And finally, Backe on Thierry Henry who made his return to training Friday where he, according to MLSsoccer.com went "through agility drills and doing some ball work before getting stretched out by a trainer"...

"He looked quite OK," said Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe. "Probably you can think that, realistically, he could be back in the Chivas [USA] game on May 23 and the US Open Cup games."

At least that's what one would assume when the Fort Lee PD respond to a noise compliant coming from can be assumed to be a friend's apartment at 5:30 this morning, and 6'2" nearly 200 pound man is, apparently, still going at it.

Wilman Conde -- identified in the NorthJersey.com story as Wilman Conde-Roa -- was apparently hanging out with apartment owner Fhanor Dominguez-Sanchez and an unidentified woman. When police showed up at the apartment, both Conde and Dominguez-Sanchez were "intoxicated and belligerent to the responding officers."

Conde was arrested and charged with aggravated assault on a police officer. He was "released on his own recognizance pending a court date."

Conde, who has been out with a groin injury, is, by our last calculation, set to come back sometime during the U.S. Open Cup break, or right before or soon thereafter.

With Philadelphia Union keeper Zac MacMath uncertain for Sunday's game, the Worms might fall back on Chris Konopka, he (formerly) of the MLS goalkeeper pool and the WTF-inducing spot start against the Chicago Fire last year.

Konopka backstopped the Red Bulls to a draw that day and when he's not playing the second half against Schalke 04, he's having his training mistakes aired in the ledes of stories on MLSsoccer.com.

A day before the Philadelphia Union were set to take on FC Schalke 04 in an international friendly at PPL Park, Philly’s third-string goalkeeper Chris Konopka let in a soft goal in training.

As soon as he saw the ball go by him, he knew he made a mistake.

"I basically curled into a ball," Konopka said. "I made myself small. The first thing I had to get into my head was to keep myself big. I’m a big guy. I’m 6-foot-5. The more I make myself big, the less they have to shoot at the goal."

Practice gaffes aside, Konopa's performance in the Union's 2-1 win against Schalke Wednesday should inspire confidence should he get the nod Sunday. Though, Chase Harrison, the team's second-stringer, is the more likely pick.

Both Konopka and Harrison should take heart, it'll be hard for either of them to do worse than this.

Let's ignore, for a minute, that the Red Bulls just pulled off a third consecutive 1-0 win last night against the Houston Dynamo with a hodgepodge line-up that's looking more and more like they've got some real players. Also, ignore a report from two weeks ago that Erik Soler had whittled down his designated player choices to just one player and a report from this week that suggested the Soler would sign depth, not flash this summer.

Just, for the time being, put those out of your head. Because in the bizarre alternate universe the agents of aging European stars inhabit, the Red Bulls have been allotted roughly 10 extra designated player slots and are about to sign Emmanuel Adebayor, Alessandro Nesta and Gianluca Zambrotta.

Continue reading this post »

This is officially a weird season for the New York Red Bulls. For the third match in a row, an inexperienced backline has recorded a clean sheet, while without Thierry Henry New York has still found a way to the back of the net, as Kenny Cooper picked up another goal to continue his fantastic start to the season. The 1-0 win moves the Red Bulls into second place in the Eastern Conference, a point ahead of D.C. United with a game in hand on The Great Satan.

Hans Backe decided not to mess with a winning formula, naming the same starting XI that hung on to beat LA on Saturday. Mehdi Ballouchy was supposed to play behind Cooper in a 4-4-1-1, but the formation looked more like an attacking 4-5-1, with the fullbacks and central midfielders pushing up in attack.

New York started well, and were rewarded for their enterprising approach in the seventh minute. Kenny Cooper received the ball just outside the box and tried to beat a couple of defenders, but had it knocked away towards Corey Ashe, who played a weak backpass to Tally Hall. Cooper chased down that pass, and as Hall tried to clear it, he kicked it off Cooper and into the back of the net for the opening goal. Cooper was slightly fortunate to be credited with his fifth goal of the season, but probably deserved it for aggressively closing down the Dynamo goalkeeper.

Continue reading this post »

New York Red Bulls vs. Houston Dynamo
Wednesday, May 9, 7:00 PM EDT
The Cathedral of Football, Red Bull Arena
Form: RBNY WDLWW | HOU WLDDL
Moving Picture Box Coverage: MSG
SBN Dynamo Perspective: Dynamo Theory

Happy gameday everybody! If there is anybody out there watching the Red Bulls, that is. You must be if you're reading this, so welcome to our match thread for tonight's game against the Houston Dynamo.

The Red Bulls are unchanged from Saturday's win over LA, and look to be lining up in a 4-5-1 at home for the first time under Hans Backe -- although Dane Richards may play as a forward. Rafa Márquez sustained an injury in training and does not make the bench for this game. Former Red Bull Mac Kandji starts up front for Houston.

If you didn't see it earlier, be sure to check out our match preview.

Lineups

Red Bulls (4-5-1): Ryan Meara; Brandon Barklage, Markus Holgersson (c), Tyler Ruthven, Connor Lade; Mehdi Ballouchy, Dax McCarty, Joel Lindpere, Jan Gunnar Solli, Dane Richards; Kenny Cooper

Bench: Jeremy Vuolo, Jonathan Borrajo, Ryan Maduro, Juan Agudelo, Jhonny Arteaga, Victor Palsson, Roy Miller

Dynamo (4-4-2): Tally Hall; Jermaine Taylor, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Corey Ashe; Calen Carr, Adam Moffat, Luiz Camargo, Brad Davis; Cam Weaver, Mac Kandji

Bench: Tyler Deric, Andre Hainault, Nathan Sturgis, Will Bruin, Alex Dixon, Je-Vaughn Watson (yes, really), Colin Clark

Go Red Bulls, Rangers, and Knicks (not necessarily in that order).