If soccer is known as “the beautiful game,” then what took place at Red Bull Arena on Saturday night was a far less appealing derivative.
The Revolution entered the game with the second-most fouls committed in the league and dragged the Red Bulls into a war of attrition. The teams combined for 30 fouls, with the Red Bulls racking up 16.
“For anyone that watched the game, it probably wasn’t that enjoyable,” Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips told The Post after the game. “Even playing in it wasn’t that enjoyable.”
But despite every kick, tackle and shove the Red Bulls felt the brunt of, they managed to pull out a scrappy, 2-0 win in the rain thanks to Danny Royer and Wright-Phillips each scoring second-half goals. It is the Red Bulls’ second straight win in their third game under coach Chris Armas.
“I think it’s another night where we show what we’re made of and that we’re fearless and that we can go after games, and there’s a lot of belief,” Armas said.
Royer missed a chance to breakthrough in the 67th minute, heading a pass from Alejandro “Kaku” Romero Gamarra wide near the back post.
Two minutes later, Royer got another chance and buried it.
After Tyler Adams drew a free kick on the right flank, Marc Rzatkowski served in beautiful curled ball, which Royer tapped in from the same spot he missed from minutes before to put the Red Bulls up 1-0.
It wasn’t the most glamorous of goals, but it was one this game — 90 physical minutes in the rain — deserved.
The Red Bulls went ahead 2-0 just 11 minutes later when Wright-Phillips got away from Jalil Anibaba to head in his 13th goal this season.
The score was created by a fantastic ball from Kaku that was similar to the one that lead to his team’s first goal.
“We knew that they were gonna bring a lot of energy the first 15 minutes [of the second half], but if we could weather the storm, we were gonna get our chances,” Red Bulls goalie Luis Robles said. “And that’s exactly how it played out.”
Prior to the Red Bulls’ scoring flurry, the fouls made for a laborious, slow match in which both teams struggled to get into any offensive rhythm.
“And when you look statistically, they’re right behind us when it comes to turnovers [caused] in their final third and in the middle third, and that’s exactly what they wanted to do,” Robles said. “So of course, it’s very frustrating for our midfielders because they want the ball at [their] feet and they wanna be able to create.”
The teams combined for one shot on target in the first half. That came in the 36th minute when the Revolution’s Teal Bunbury fired at shot straight at Robles from close range that missed.
It was the lone big chance of the half and a welcome respite from the plodding style of the half.
Red Bulls improved ever so slightly in the second half, especially after another quality chance in the 51st minute that Bunbury could not convert. He miss timed his jump when trying to connect with a cross from the left flank. The miss woke up the Red Bulls as they began attacking with more verve afterwards.
The pressure runs by fullback Michael Murillo put on the New England defense led to Royer’s header in the 67th minute. It wasn’t long after that the Red Bulls got on the board and clawed their way to a win.