HARRISON, N.J. – Just as it looked as if the New York Red Bulls were in for more of the same, the floodgates finally opened.
Avenging last season’s 5-2 drubbing at the hands of their Florida foe, the Red Bulls ended Orlando’s purple reign on Sunday night.
In dramatic fashion, the Red Bulls put together a come-from-behind effort that saw their attack come alive in front of their home fans. A brace from Bradley Wright-Phillips, coupled with a scintillating, game-tying goal from Mike Grella powered New York to a 3-2 win over Orlando City SC, giving the side reason to believe better days lie ahead.
With three points in the bag and another home fixture just five days away, here are my takeaways from a wild one at Red Bull Arena.
The Attack is Back
There’s no way to sugarcoat it: the Red Bulls attacking core has struggled mightily to start 2016.
Not for a lack of trying, but seemingly everything had fallen by the wayside for New York in the final third. And through the first 45 of Sunday night’s matchup, the script was looking all too familiar.
“It was hard not to be frustrated again,” midfielder Sacha Kljestan told NewYorkRedBulls.com, of entering the locker room down 1-0 at the half. “The message before the game from Jesse was to take things one half at time, and at worst, come in 0-0 at halftime. Then, we find ourselves in the same position we’ve been in all season.”
Enjoying the majority of the possession, the Red Bulls created plenty of chances, but the breakthrough simply would not come. Through tremendous goalkeeping and last-ditch defending, Orlando City managed to keep the Red Bulls off the board, forcing the team to dig deep in response, and respond they did.
The second half saw more continued dominance, but this time, the end product rewarded their efforts.
“I think it was Bradley's best game of the year, Sacha's best game of the year, Mike's best game of the year, and Lloyd's best game of the year,” Marsch said after the match. “They really dictated how we did things in the attacking part of the field. They were dangerous all night and they all contributed to the goals, so that was really good to see.”
With the floodgates seemingly opened, the attacking core was oozing confidence in a jubilant postgame locker room.
“I feel like we’ve been awakened now,” Grella said. “I feel like we’re a very strong team, very good group of guys. I think we needed another wake-up call and I think for sure we got that, so the feeling here is great. It’s like we won the Supporter’s Shield again almost. But put that aside, we got a tough game again on Friday, and you know we need to come back out here and provide another result and do all the right things again.”
Added Wright-Phillips: “I feel like I’m back as a player. When I’m not scoring, I’m not scoring. I go on the worst runs and I don’t want to jinx myself. When I do score I manage to just get luck and they all start going in so hopefully that’s what happens now.”
Turning the Tides
Standing at six points, there’s plenty of work still be done. But with a crucial three points against a tough opponent, the guys believe they’ve turned a corner.
Sure, it wasn’t the prettiest match; yet the win has made a noticeable difference amongst many within the locker room, relieving some of the anxiety that had plagued them thus far.
“We concede two tonight again, so that was too easy,” defender Ronald Zubar said. “I’m not really happy about that, but I’m really happy for Bradley. We need our strikers to score goals and have confidence. It was a great night.
“To be honest, we should score more, but it was a tough one. We’ve given a lot these past couple of games. But we just keep working hard in training and believing in ourselves; it’s the only thing we can do.”
While not a perfect performance, the ability to grind out the result is a trait that could serve the team well down the stretch. After seeing their efforts go unrewarded week after week, Sunday’s win has the team believing.
“You see the way we play and we play pretty good soccer,” captain Dax McCarty said. “In between both boxes, we’re fairly dominant. But in both boxes, when you have to really play with a sense of urgency and be sharp, we’ve come off second best. Obviously, it’s a big weight off our shoulders to come away with three points. We stayed confident, we didn’t hang our heads, and we kept creating chances.”
Added Marsch: “We want to use it as a springboard to move us forward in the rest of the season,” Marsch said. “This can be a really big night for us. I think it's a really good time for the team to enjoy these three points and certainly the attacking prowess of the night.”
No Time to Waste
A feel-good win had the locker room in great spirits, but the guys know they won’t have much time to admire their work.
With a packed training schedule ahead of them, the guys will get back to work in preparation for another tough matchup on a short week.
Next up, league-leading FC Dallas.
“There is a quick turnaround on Friday, and a really good team is coming to town,” Marsch cautioned. “Once we get to tomorrow, it's back to work and continue to push every day, and now we need to use Friday in a really good way to help us to continue to move forward.”
A talented, high-flying Dallas squad may well pose the toughest test for a New York side looking to continue to right their ship, and the guys are already looking forward to improving for their next matchup.
“We have a short week, but it’s nice to play again so quickly,” Zubar said. “We still have things to work on because everything wasn’t as perfect as we would have liked, but good performance tonight, looking forward to the next one.”
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