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Sept. 8, 2013: Dynamo 1, Red Bulls 4
Rejoice!
The Red Bulls won. On the road.
Yeah, the Houston Dynamo were lacking Oscar Boniek Garcia and Brad Davis to international duty and their back line looked more like a sieve than a professional soccer defense, but the Red Bulls are a team one game removed from getting browbeaten by Chivas USA in Los Angeles. So personnel aside, it's something for the Red Bulls and their fans to hang their hat on. At least for now.
Yesterday's win wasn't of the smash-and-grab nature the one in Sporting Kansas City was, where, more than anything, it was a tactical victory for Mike Petke. Beating Houston in Houston resembled a Red Bulls home game: They strike first, middle a bit and get bailed out by Luis Robles, before emphatically ending the game. All this in a stadium where the home team went 36 games unbeaten to open it.
It bodes well for the future, too. If the Red Bulls can put something resembling a respectable road form together, they might be able to mount a Supporters' Shield run. As it stands, they're three points behind Real Salt Lake with two road games to play, another in Houston and one in Seattle. If those two games are foregone losses, the Red Bulls last hope for a trophy is the MLS Cup, especially since the only team in between the Red Bulls and RSL is the Sounders, who has two games in hand on both teams.
Then again, this is almost the same exact thing fans were saying after the Sporting KC game...