Well, that was rough.
It all happened in two minutes. First Marco Di Vaio puts one away at the outset of the second half, then Davy Arnaud. Thierry Henry put one in the back of the net for the Red Bulls in the 57th minute, but Sanna Nyassi put the game out of reach in the 74th.
It felt a bit like the team's chickens were coming home to roost. Jan Gunnar Solli, filling in for the injured Brandon Barklage, was caught out of position on two of the goals. Bill Gaudette, who was given the honor of starter-'till-he-screws-up, seemed to hesitate on coming off his line on the first two goals.
To make matters worse, a rather stupid yellow card suspends Dax McCarty, a model of consistency and health in an inconsistent and unhealthy line-up, for Friday night's game against the Houston Dynamo.
This was a trap game if there ever was one for the Red Bulls. This week saw the team's acquisition of Tim Cahill and Saturday's game was sandwiched between the All-Star Game and the Tuesday's friendly against Tottenham Hotspur. In the whole scope of the MLS-verse it did feel like this game was a bit of an afterthought. Not that there's any excuse in getting drubbed by an expansion team -- sometimes losses happen -- but they really should have come away with some kind of point from last night.
The Red Bulls did get lucky this weekend. Sporting Kansas City lost to the Columbus Crew, 2-1, keeping them atop the East by a single point. In the Supporters Shield race, the San Jose Earthquakes saved themselves a draw. They stay atop the Supporters Shield race by six points. Real Salt Lake won this week, but Tuesday start their CONCACAF Champions League campaign.
So things are still looking up for this team, but things could be looking even upper.