August 3, 2013: Red Bulls 3, Sporting Kansas City 2
The stars finally aligned for the Red Bulls.
If there was one team that had the Red Bulls' number, it's Sporting. The Red Bulls hadn't beaten the Kansas City side in Kansas City since they were the Wizards and in Red Bull Arena, it wasn't much better.
But Saturday, the Red Bulls finally beat Sporting.
And it was a big win. With the three points, the Red Bulls vault to the top of the East and near the top of the league.
Positives
- The Red Bulls absorbed a ton of pressure. There were several times Sporting should've scored. But they didn't take advantage of their chances. On the flip side, the Red Bulls counter attacked very well.
- You can't talk enough about how big a win this is. Dax McCarty said in the lead up to the game it was important to win to show they were a mentally strong team. They did just that Saturday.
- Lloyd Sam had a great game. Unfortunately...
Negatives
- The Red Bulls routine 60th minute sub came off with an injury.
- And in his place? Kosuke Kimura, who suffered a concussion. They had to bring on the stretcher. Here's hoping he's ok.
- Peguy Luyindula still can't finish...
- The Red Bulls almost coughed up another late lead. Against Real Salt Lake, the Red Bulls gutted out a win with two late goals. Yesterday, they were almost in a similar position after a stoppage time Dominic Dwyer goal cut the lead in half.
Notable Quotes
Head Coach Mike Petke, via the New York Post...
I'm extremely proud of our team. We showed character today. Sporting is a phenomenal team and they showed that today. It reminds me of our game against D.C. earlier this season where we got outshot something like 27 to three and we came away with a tie. And I'm sure Peter is in there unsatisfied, very unsatisfied, as he probably should be.We knew it was going to be tough coming into this game. We knew how well they played. We were looking to do a little more counterattacking today and the counterattacking goals worked to a T.
Sporting Head Coach Peter Vermes, via the Post...
What I would say is, in a nut shell, my apologies to the fans because we gave up three horrendous goals, two of which were on the counter. After looking at the second goal, I have a pretty good idea that it was offside, but we should never be in those positions in the first place. I'm very disappointed on the fact that in the second half I think that we had them on their heels and part of the end of the first half, I really do. I think we had them on their heels. I think they were tired and I don't think they had a second wind in them at all. It was our chance to go in and put it on them and we didn't take advantage of that. They made the most of their opportunities. I think the stats were like 27 shots to five or something like that. Definitely, definitely not good enough from that perspective. We had so many chances in the first half we need to score. The bottom line is we need to put the ball in the back of the net. There were too many good chances there for us not to score and our desire in the second half to close that game out was not of Sporting level. The guys are going to feel this one; they're going to feel it from me.
Relevant Statistics
| Sporting KC | Statistic | Red Bulls |
| 27 | Attempts on Goal | 5 |
| 6 | Corners | 1 |
| 10 | Fouls | 12 |
| 26 | Crosses | 5 |
| 82% | Passing Accuracy | 63% |
| 64.4% | Possession | 35.4% |