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The New York Red Bulls, on short rest, traveled to Columbus to take on the Crew. They conceded a first half PK that was put away by Jairo Arrieta. The Red Bulls answered back in the second half with a Bradley Wright-Phillips goal.
Luis Robles
Again, Luis Robles was the most valuable player on the team. Yes, he let in a PK goal, but PKs are considered almost automatic for the attacking team. On multiple occasions Robles made saves by literally the tip of his fingers, which kept the Red Bulls in the game. While he only faced 3 shots on target, on a few occasions he had to come out to break up the Columbus attack as they were able to beat NY's high defensive line. This man is earning his paycheck and more so far this year, and I hope we don't see the day where we has a bad game at the same time as the defense.
Bradley Wright-Phillips
Wright-Phillips put away his 5th goal of the year when he placed one off of the far post in the second half. The goal was a great display of skill as he had to flick the ball back across his body just to get the shot off. Aside from his goal, Wright-Phillips was the forward he needed to be all night. He was making runs, even though the ball wasn't getting to him. He was holding the ball up when he did get it in a forward position. He had an all around good game, and if it wasn't for the performance put in by Robles, he would be my call for man of the match.
Lacking in Final Third
NY was back to it's old ways in the final third in this game. They would get the ball up into the final third, but just couldn't finish. In the second half, the lack of finishing became worse when the attack became stagnate. There was an extended period (5-10 minutes) where the Red Bulls seemed content to pass the ball between the midfield and defense but not make any move to advance the ball forward. It's almost like this team is too afraid to push the issue at times at the risk of opening themselves up. If it wasn't for a moment of brilliance by Wright-Phillips, this game would've ended in a loss.