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1-4-0. That's the New York Red Bulls' record through five games. Not an easy pill to swallow for the supporters and the team, coming off a Supporter's Shield victory last year. Everyone knew that the game against Sporting Kansas City would be difficult on the defensive end, but no one could predict how mightily the offense would struggle. Bradley Wright-Phillips. TEN shots. ONE PK MISS... no goals. SKC goalkeeper Tim Melia was lights out. Seven saves to go along with his clean sheeting the 2-0 drubbing. Probably GK of the Week and Player of the Week candidate.
Two players were the Red Bulls' top performers. And they aren't the standard names that show up each week:
Sean Davis (MID, 6 points): Davis started and played all 90 minutes in place of the suspended Felipe Martins. And he did a great job at filling the void. He tied for scoring the most points on the team this week, contributing one shot and taking six of the team's seven corner kicks. Two offensive bonus points. Two defensive bonus points. Pretty good night for someone who doesn't see the field much.
Mike Grella (MID, 6 points): Grella also played all 90 minutes for RBNY, scoring bonus points on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. He also grabbed a passing bonus point, completing 31 of 35 passes. In the 72nd minute, Grella registered his only shot of the game, and it was a solid chance. After the defense stopped Dom Dwyer, the ball deflected out to Sacha Kljestan. Kljestan played a long ball over the top of the KC defense, finding BWP. BWP found a streaking Grella in the middle of the field. After a quick step over move, Grella was able to create space in the box. His hard left footed shot was stopped low at the near post by Melia.
The Red Bulls will now be one of six teams with a double game week. Both are on the road, starting with San Jose on Wednesday night, then Saturday night at Colorado. The opponents aren't the toughest, so hopefully RBNY can get on track before the end of the month.