The Red Bulls were coming off of a disappointing 5-2 loss at home to Orlando City SC. Then they let Columbus Crew SC score a goal in the 9th minute. Things did not look good as the team was not controlling possession, nor were they pressing up the field, as has been their trademark this season. The goal though ended up being a catalyst as the Red Bulls pressed every chance they got, forcing the Crew, and Steve Clark especially, into bad passes that led to two first half goals. The second half was mostly Red Bulls again as they pressed for a third goal to give a cushion. That goal never came, and the Red Bulls held off on the late Columbus push for a draw and held on for a 2-1 win.
| Team | 1st | 2nd | Total |
| New York Red Bulls | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Columbus Crew SC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Lineups
| Pos | Player | Sub | Pos | Player | Sub |
| GK | Luis Robles | GK | Steve Clark | ||
| D | Sal Zizzo | D | Harrison Afful | ||
| D | Ronald Zubar | D | Gastón Sauro | 86' Jack McInerney | |
| D | Damien Perrinelle | D | Michael Parkhurst | ||
| D | Connor Lade | D | Waylon Francis | ||
| M | Dax McCarty | M | Tony Tchani | ||
| M | Felipe Martins | M | Mohammed Saeid | ||
| M | Lloyd Sam | 67' Gonzalo Veron | M | Ethan Finlay | 64' Cedrick |
| M | Sacha Kljestan | M | Federico Higuain | ||
| M | Mike Grella | 88' Sean Davis | M | Justin Meram | |
| F | Bradley Wright-Phillips | 77' Karl Ouimette | F | Kei Kamara | |
| Unused Subs | Unused Subs | ||||
| GK | Kyle Renish | GK | Brad Stuver | ||
| D | Anthony Wallace | D | Tyson Wahl | ||
| M | Shaun Wright-Phillips | M | Kristinn Steindorsson | ||
| M | Hector Jimenez | ||||
| M | Kevan George | ||||
Stats
| New York | Columbus | |
| Shots | 13 | 12 |
| Shots on Goal | 7 | 5 |
| Saves | 4 | 5 |
| Fouls | 10 | 15 |
| Offsides | 3 | 1 |
| Corners | 3 | 4 |
| Yellow Cards | 2 | 1 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
Scoring Summary
- 9' - CLB - Justin Meram (Harrison Afful)
- 12' - NY - Lloyd Sam (Sacha Kljestan)
- 21' - NY - Bradley Wright-Phillips (Connor Lade)
Disciplinary Summary
- 15' - Yellow - NY - Damien Perinelle (Unsporting Behavior)
- 78' - Yellow - NY - Luis Robles (Time Wasting)
- 79' - Yellow - CLB - Gaston Sauro (Unsporting Behavior)
Quotes
Red Bulls Coach Dennis Hamlett
On bouncing back from the Orlando match:
We felt that we had an off night [against] Orlando, in terms of our pressing and our shifting and moving, so - I mean, credit to them, on the night that they did well - so tonight, I think we saw more of who we are in terms of our commitment to the pressing and doing it together. And so we had a great response after the first goal and we just continued, and we were able to create two chances, two goals from that pressing.
On shutting down Kei Kamara without Matt Miazga and Kemar Lawrence:
Yeah, I mean you know, obviously we knew about Matt [Miazga], and Ronald [Zubar] has had a difficult season, but we felt and believed that he'd be ready for this game. And so he stepped in tonight and I thought he played a great game and showed his real quality tonight in terms of just competing and being tuned in and just being a presence back there for us. And I think that helped us in terms of having Sal [Zizzo] and Conor [Lade] on the flanks, in terms of just [playing] as a group. I think Sal [was] important [and] played real[ly] well. So we felt that putting him on the field tonight, no issue. We have a system that we play and guys understand their role so when they step on the field they know what to do.
On Kemar Lawrence's absence:
It's just personal issues, he'll be back for Wednesday's game.
On coaching the Red Bulls this week:
It's about the Red Bulls, not about me; it's just about that group of guys that are in there. We have a way we play and so it's the same message just a different voice.
On Conor Lade's performance:
Yeah you know I think he played well tonight. I thought he was aggressive, he read situations, he didn't get himself stepping in, he didn't get caught out of position. He knew he didn't play particularly well last game so you know, I think he had a good week of training, and came out tonight and showed his quality.
On communicating with Jesse Marsch before and after the match:
Yeah, we spoke before - I think he's gotta be out of the locker room by 5:30 [p.m.] so I got here around 4:30 and we spoke a little bit. I went through the different scenarios with Chris [Armas] and Rafa [Gonzalez] in terms of what we could expect.
On Mike Grella's pressing:
I think that's been our system all along. Columbus is a team that likes to play out of the back, and so I think tonight you probably saw more chances that we were able to pick off of them because - you know, credit to them, they have a way of playing and they stick to it, and so they try and play and as a result our guys are in good positions to get up and get those balls.
On being able to stop Kei Kamara:
You know, look - he's a handful, he's having a great year, and so we told our guys - the back four - to just be aware, identify him when the balls are out wide because he does make good runs in the box. And then sometimes, you know, just be smart in terms of going up for challenges because if you really can't win it there's no sense in you going up, you maybe pretend you're going to go up and then kind of play a little cat and mouse and then you drop off, so I thought Ronald [Zubar] played excellent.
New York Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips
On stopping Kei Kamara:
He's the league's top scorer. He's obviously a dangerous player. He was in our video this week, and I think the defenders handled him well. Be aggressive with a guy like that, he's a big guy. Just don't let him get free time when he's in those areas where he's dangerous.
On team bouncing back after losses:
I think it comes down to pride. You see this season, we're not used to losing too much. It comes down to pride. Orlando came in here and battered us. We didn't want to feel like that again. It was horrible in this changing room, you guys were in here. We made sure today that we would not be conceding. We didn't' want to concede a goal. We've got good bounce back ability in this team.
On getting goals from the high press:
That's how we play. That's when we're best. If it don't work one game, we'll be sure to do that the next game. It's when we're at our best, its classic Red Bull. The second goal from me was classic Red Bull. We win the ball up high, and start attacking straight away. We got a goal from it tonight.
Red Bulls Midfielder Lloyd Sam
On stopping Kei Kamara:
I think our defense played him well. Sometimes, if it looked like he was going to win the ball, they dropped off and just got the ball off of him. Sometimes you don't need to fight him. He's very good in the air, so sometimes, let him win a couple and just get them knocked down. I think they were smart.
On players like Ronald Zubar and Sal Zizzo stepping in and getting the job done when other players are out:
It's been happening all season like that, which is good, it means we've been coached well to do those things even if you're not in the team. People know their roles, which is good to see.
On the defensive performance after the Orlando match:
Even the goal was a bit of a strange one, but that can happen. Other than that, we defended well. I'm proud of the guys back there cause after Orlando, obviously, they took a bit of criticism maybe so they bounced back well and it was good to see us not conceded in the second half.
On his goal:
Sacha did really well to see me. I think the ball popped back out to him, edge of the box, and he just put it toward the penalty spot where I was. I thought he couldn't see me, but he did really well so I give him the credit for that, and then I just put it on frame and it felt good to see it go in.
New York Red Bulls Goalkeeper Luis Robles
On staying mentally in the game:
I was doing my best to stay warm, stretching a lot. These games I don't mind at all-when there's not a lot of action-but towards the end, you know you're going to be called on a couple times, so I knew mentally that's something I needed to be prepared for and I felt that I was up to the task.
On winning the important second balls:
When we watched video this week, we knew it was going to be tough to win aerial battles with them, so if we got one guy up there and then another guy to win the second ball, that was going to help us, and the boys did a great job of that today. Not only jumping with them, so he wasn't getting a clean header, but then picking up the second balls.
On how the high press worked tonight:
I felt like today we did a great job of recognizing opportunities, and we got two good goals from it. So as we look forward to the next few games, we understand that there's going to be moments where we make the wrong call, but for the most part, if we can make the right call, the majority of the time, we'll be okay.