RECAP: Red Bulls Comeback to Draw Orlando, 2-2
The New York Red Bulls trailed twice against Orlando City SC on Saturday, but a penalty kick and quick second half allowed the home side to earn a point with a 2-2 draw.
A still heavily injured RBNY squad continued to adjust the starting roster. Raheem Edwards started his first game, and Dennis Gjengaar and Dylan Nealis played more up top.
This is the first game this season where New York, which has been stout on defense, has allowed two goals in a single game.
Head coach Sandro Schwarz said his team controlled a lot of the game, but a hectic ten minutes could have left New York without any points.
He is thinking about the team’s continued struggle to play a full 90 minutes.
“What I don’t like is how we played the last ten minutes at the end,” Schwarz said. “But we have to be happy at the end of this game with this point. That’s, for me, not possible today,y to be honest.”
First Half
PHOTO: New York Red Bulls
New York came out in a 3-4-2-1 formation, with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting acting as the lone striker. The home side put pressure in the first ten minutes, but nothing that keeper Pedro Gallese couldn’t handle. Peter Stroud had a shot deflected, which Gallese caught. Gjengaar had a point-blank look from a tough angle that hit off the keeper’s body and back into play.
Orlando City got on the scoreboard first in the 18th minute—a solid pass by Luis Muriel to Martin Ojeda to run it right down the middle. New York’s defense looked out of sorts, and by the time pressure neared Ojeda, he launched a shot past Coronel to give the visitors the lead.
The Red Bulls responded ten minutes later after two no-calls in the Orlando City box. Choupo-Moting looked as though he was fouled by Robin Jansson, but the referee allowed play to continue. A minute later, Peter Stroud looked as though he was taken down in the box, but again, play was allowed to continue.
After further review, the penalty was given, and Choup-Moting converted the penalty kick, scoring his first goal with the club.
“I can’t say enough how amazing of a teammate he is. How special of a human being he is as well. I think everyone can see it. He has so much quality, and I think everyone is rooting for him,” Stroud said after the game about his new teammate.
“If you met him, you know, you feel like you’re best friends with him. I knew when he got the penalty, he would score. Hopefully, we can keep giving him the service he deserves to get the goals.”
Just before halftime, the visitors got back in the lead. Raheem Edwards struggled all game. He was picked off multiple times and out paced by plenty of Orlando players. However the biggest fault was in the 39th minute. Playing back, Marco Pasalic was able to stay onside as he broke past the New York defense. He let a shot past Coronel’s right side and made it 2-1.
Second Half
At halftime, coach Schwarz and the team were able to buckle down areas where Orlando were able to break through.
In the 47th minute, Gjengaar met a Peter Stroud cross in the box, which he used his body to redirect to level the score.
“We analyzed (the first half) — some consequences, we need more deep runs and better box positions in the box, and this is what we did very well, especially (at the) beginning of the second half, I would say the first 20, 25 minutes,” Schwarz told the media after the match.
Later on, both Choupo-Moting and Gjengaar nearly scored braces that would have likely given New York the win. The ex-Bundesliga striker kept the ball in play and took a shot that hit off an Orlando defender. Gjengaar hopped on the rebound, but the shot hit off the left post.
In the last ten minutes, City pushed hard to take the lead. Carlos Coronel made two critical stops off shots from Ramiro Enrique and Rafael Santos.
The result is one that coach Schwarz kept saying the team needed to be happy about, but he was also one that he wasn’t going to be easy on himself for.
“[I feel like] I’m losing two (points),” Schwarz said.
“It’s very easy to say ‘one point off of Orlando, that’s a very great team. ’ Everything true. But in this situation… Maybe when you ask tomorrow morning, hopefully after a good night, my answer will be different.
Analysis
Overall, New York played Orlando exactly as expected. City has been a high-opportunity, low-defensive team through the early Major League Soccer season. Allowing two goals to them isn’t strange. Scoring two on them is expected.
What was shocking was how out of sorts Raheem Edwards looked. The 29-year-old MLS veteran struggled to keep pace against Orlando yet played every minute of his first RBNY start.
Coach Schwarz noted that he didn’t have preseason with the team and still needs to adapt. However, he has done well off the bench in the last two games he played.
“It’s my job to analyze the whole performance of Raheem, and when we are looking at the big picture of his performance, he had some very good moments. Especially in our final third,” Schwarz said.
New York’s offense was sound. Dennis Gjengaar looked the most comfortable he has since being rearranged.
The team’s absence of Lewis Morgan and other players was felt, but the team is trying to overcome that and making some progress in that effort—case in point: Serge Ngoma’s return late in the game.
New York should have an easier time next week when they host Toronto FC at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
PHOTO: New York Red Bulls
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