LEAVING A BAD TASTE Red Bulls drop a disappointing 4-1 decision to United in an uninspired effort
Alecko Eskandarian scored twice for D.C. United, celebrating his first goal in a unique way. Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor
East Rutherford, N.J. -- After he scored the first goal for D.C. United in its 4-1 trashing of the New York Red Bulls on Saturday afternoon, forward Alecko Eskandarian took a swig of the energy drink Red Bull during his goal celebration and spit it out.
He said he was just having some fun.
“They are our rivals and I apologize if I offended anyone,” he said. “It was just a like joke amongst the team.”
But there was little doubt that the Red Bulls’ uninspired performance left a bad taste in the mouths among many of the announced crowd of 8,475 who braved the cold and rain at Giants Stadium.
The Bulls entered the match one distracted team, their pre-game preparation side-tracked on speculation whether coach Mo Johnston would be fired in the wake of team president and general manager Alexi Lalas deciding to join the Los Angeles Galaxy on Monday. Johnston received word on Thursday that he remain as coach, although it is not certain how long he would remain in that position.
Goalkeeper and captain Tony Meola did not mince his words.
"It was difficult to prepare yourself," he said. "But you would have thought the one thing we would have brought was a lot of effort to that kind of battle. They beat us in every facet of the game. They outworked us. They out-thought us. They outplayed us. It was a little bit surprising from that point.
"We didn't get anything going the whole game. We were flat right from the start. I was making saves . . right from the start. Our defense was under pressure again for 90 minutes."
For the first time, the Red Bulls find themselves winless four games into the season (0-1-3). United is 3-0-1.
United scored as many goals on Saturday as the Red Bulls have all season.
"We played exactly like we trained all week," Meola said. "We've got to stop with the meetings and all the other stuff that goes on. If we meet, it's got to be soccer. If we talk, it's got to be about soccer.
"Those guys in the other locker room they aen't talking about anything but soccer all week. We've got to get to that point. The rest of the stuff has got to stop.
Asked if he thought the team failed Johnston, Meola replied: "We failed ourselves. He's in it with us. We feel he's part of us and I think he feels the same way. We're in this together. We didn't fail one guy and nor did one guy fail the whole team. We failed as a team. Every single one of us have responsibility in that."
Johnston, who had survived a tumultuous week, refused to use the distractions as an excuse.
"We need a little more confidence," he said. "We're lacking in it at the moment."
He added: "For me, on the day, D.C. was better. They were hungry. They wanted it more. They capitalized on our mistakes."
Johnston tried a few things to shake up the team. He started newly acquired forward Jean Philippe Peguero three hours after he touched down at Newark airport, completing a four-hour plane ride from Denver. He wasn't a factor.
He used a three-man backline of MarvelleWynne, Taylor Graham and Carlos Mendes in a 3-5-2 formation instead of the usual 4-4-2 after Jeff Parke was injured. But that only seemed to make life more difficult in the back.
The Red Bulls hoped to get out of the first half unscathed, but Eskandarian connected for the first of his two goals from 14 yards in the 41st minute.
"The first goal was sort of the backbreaker," Meola said. "We weathered the storm. You come in 0-0 at halftime, anything can happen. We had our heads down. And from that point on, they never looked back."
Then came Eskie's famous goal celebration as teammate Jamil Walker received an assist, tossing him the can.
Asked whether he planned the celebration, Eskie replied, "I've had a history of concussions, so I can't really remember."
Eskie has scored all his three goals against the Red Bulls this season.
By the time Youri Djorkaeff scored off a 14-yard effort off a Mike Magee feed in the 86th minute, United had enjoyed a 3-0 advantage.
Eskandarian fired home an eight-yard blast from the left side in the 59th minute. Facundo Erpen launched an impressive 35-yard bullet past Meola in the 71st minute. Walker finished it up with a 10-yard tally in the 88th minute.
