Red Bulls grind to 1-1 draw with Revs

The New York Red Bulls wanted to make sure they were able to play a full ninety-minute game after a poor start down in Philadelphia, so they traveled up I-95 to take on the New England Revolution and left Gillette Stadium with a 1-1 draw.

The Red Bulls would score the opener in the 35th minute, as Omir Fernandez and Ben Mines combined well to create the chance. Fernandez received the ball at the near side touchline and came across.

A quick give and go with Mines that pulled nearly every Revolution player towards them, Then he found some space and blasted a shot past Matt Turner that went inside the far post for

“[Ben Mines and I] practiced that a lot this week. Chris [Armas] told us what the lineup was going to look like and we wanted to have a lot of confidence in practice.” said Omir Fernandez, “We’ve found each other in practice and I guess it just happened in the game. We just wanted to go in with confidence, and I knew I was going to get one. I just had to put it in the back of the net and luckily I was able to do that tonight.

“I think it gives me a lot of confidence to score in big games when the team needs it. We wanted to come out and gain more confidence for the team to show that we can score goals. We have that creativity up top. I feel like it gives me confidence, but everybody in the locker room confidence to keep pushing and keep progressing.”

But six minutes later, the Revolution would equalize the match and, it was too easy to convert that chance. The Revolution took advantage of a mental mistake, which allowed them to run through the defense.

Once Teal Bunbury caught Patrick Seagrist napping, he was onside to lead the attack on the near side of the field, made a solid cross to Gustavo Bou and, the easy tap in for the equalizer.

But it was Ryan Meara who would make the point count as he made several saves to keep his side level for the entire second half. Even though he made a fantastic save late in the second half, it didn’t count, as the foul was called first. He also played with a different backline and he looked comfortable with his fullbacks out there.

“I feel good and I feel like I am seeing the game good and I feel sharp. I think it’s been a big help that the defense has been so solid especially the last couple games.” said Ryan Meara, “We’ve played against some tough attacking players and we really stood up and not giving up too many chances. There’s always things we can clean up but I think we’re happy tonight with the 1-1 result.

“These guys have been working so hard in training and I’ve been there and been that guy on the outside so I have a lot of sympathy for them. It’s great to see when they get their opportunities that they stand up and contribute. Going forward, we’re going to have a game every three, four or five days until November, so it’s huge to have that depth. It’s definitely something to build on.”

Chris Armas went with an experimental lineup after a flat performance in Philadelphia. He gave Danny Royer a rest back home as well as leaving team captain Sean Davis on the bench, while Kaku finally saw his name in the starting lineup for the first time since the Orlando mini-tournament.

“In a really difficult building to play in, against a good team that put out their best team, we were expecting and demanding a few things tonight.” said Chris Armas, “One, to have a team a team that was ready from the start, a team that was ready to play 90 minutes, a team that was going to be on the front foot and aggressive, no one hiding out there. And we saw that.

“Knowing that we were going to put a young team out there, if you just went around the field with Omir Fernandez, Ben Mines, Mathias [Jørgensen] gets a bunch of minutes, Patrick Seagrist, Manny Egbo getting his first start. If you went around the field a little bit, you’d understand how proud we are of that effort to get a hard-fought point against a good team in their building. “

But this positive result came at a price, as center back Tim Parker was shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge on Tajon Buchanan. Attempting a late play of the ball with his left foot, he accidentally struck Buchanan in the midsection. Jair Marrufo went to his back pocket and showed the red card at Parker as he put his side down to ten men.

While this is a two-match winless streak, this draw can be a positive result to return to Red Bull Arena as they will face DC United in midweek and the Philadelphia Union next Sunday.