A point on the road is normally good, but when you have more players on the field than the other team, you have to wonder if you could have done more.
The New York Red Bulls traveled to Montreal this week, looking to earn their fourth win in a row. Thanks to a suspension to Damien Perinelle, the insertion of Karl Ouimette was the only change made to the lineup that won against the Philadelphia Union.
The Red Bulls had one of the best chances of the match early on. Mike Grella, in on goal, attempted to curl a shot around Evan Bush but his effort sailed wide of the post.
Montreal opened the scoring in the 42' minute. With halftime fast approaching, the Impact seemed content to sit back and absorb pressure. On a counter, Dilly Duka found inadvertently played the ball in the path of an onrushing Dominic Oduro who smashed the ball past a helpless Luis Robles.
After the break, the Red Bulls managed to find the equalizer. Grella was again at the heart of things, swinging in a cross towards the penalty spot. Lloyd Sam managed to get a foot on it, despite an apparent shove, and the ball slowly trickled into the back of the net.
In the 79' minute, Laurent Ciman was ejected for a reckless foul on midfielder-turned-right-back Sal Zizzo. Despite the advantage, the Red Bulls wouldn't come close to scoring, with the exception of free kick from Felipe that smacked the post.
Red cards never seem to help
No matter how many times the Red Bulls seem to play a team with a red card, they never really manage to capitalize on the advantage. Against Real Salt Lake in June, they failed to score after RSL was given 2 red cards. Even in the Open Cup against the Philadelphia Union, the Red Bulls conceded first despite a first half red card to Conor Casey.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Worst man-up team, ever. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RBNY?src=hash">#RBNY</a></p>— Anthony (@xynie) <a href="https://twitter.com/xynie/status/629109357817376768">August 6, 2015</a></blockquote>
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I'm not sure what it is, but hopefully, Gonzalo Veron can help provide the answer.
So many wingers
Grella is playing like a man possessed. You might even say he's playing like a man who's trying to lock down his starting spot. With the arrivals of Veron and Shaun Wright-Phillips, Grella has to have been feeling some pressure. The way he is playing, there would be no reason to bench him. There's also no real reason to bench Lloyd Sam either, but Grella's performances in particular are giving Jesse Marsch some good problems to solve.
Matt Miazga
Miazga has gone from a first team prospect to a solid starter in the span of a year. He wins headers, he wins tackles, and he plays smartly. Combine that with his fiery temper and the fact that he plays as though he has a chip on his shoulder, and you have yourself a fan favorite. When Perinelle returns from his suspension, this is going to be a difficult back line for Andrea Pirlo, Frank Lampard, and David Villa to break down.