May 20, 2009 THEIR CUP RUNNETH UNDER Red Bulls fall to United, 5-3, after poor start in U.S. Open Cup qualifier
Dane Richards beats the last defender before scoring the Red Bulls' first goal on Wednesday night. Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
Washington, D.C. -- Scratch one competition on the Red Bulls' to-do list this season.
They were denied a berth in the Lamar Hunt/U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday night as they dropped a 5-3 qualifying decision to D.C. United after a nightmare first half at RFK Stadium.
In one of the club's worst, if not poorest halves in its 14-year history, the Red Bulls had to dig themselves out of a 4-1 halftime hole after allowing four unanswered goals in the opening 26 minutes. The Red Bulls made a game of it in the second half, but it wasn't enough in the embarrassing match.
Rookie Chris Pontius, whose 11th-hour goal doomed the Red Bulls to a 3-2 loss at Giants Stadium on April 26, has emerged as New York's latest nemesis. He scored two goals -- one in each half.
The Red Bulls still have, of course, the MLS regular season, which runs through October and the CONCACAF Champions League, which begins this summer. United became one of eight MLS teams that qualified for the tournament.
"It was a big test for some of the guys and some of them failed the test today," coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "First half we were horrible. It was probably the worst game I ever played, ever coached with the Red Bulls. I want to apologize to the fans, especially the fans that came here. I apologize because we lacked character, passion.
"We didn’t have any heart, any passion and we just got what we deserved in the first 25 minutes."
Osorio got no arguments from his team.
"I’m not sure I’ve ever been a part of something like that, professionally," forward John Wolyniec, who was captain for the game. "Obviously, it’s tough. We came out sleeping – plain and simple. We gave up chances almost immediately, and you can’t do against a team like D.C. at home. You’ve got to give them credit – they flew around, moved the ball quick.
"I think we were a little embarrassed by what we did. Sometimes you come out and it just seems like you can’t do anything right. It’s hard to change that type of feeling on the field."
Fred had a golden opportunity to put United up in the sixth minute, but he sent his four-yard shot over the crossbar before a crowd of 5,056.
However, only two minutes later, Pontius headed home a Christian Gomez corner kick past Danny Cepero for a 1-0 D.C. advantage.
Boyzzz Khumalo doubled the lead in the 18th minute. Gomez fed Khumalo, who broke in from 40 yards and had an easy time beating Cepero as rookie right fullback Jeremy Hall tried in vain to clear off the line..
Three minutes later things went from bad to worse as Cepero blundered on an Ange N'Silu cross in the penalty area in the 21st minute. He didn't do very good job of swatting away the ball and Brandon Barklage pounced on it and shot into an empty net to make it 3-0.
And then it went to worst in the 26th minute. This time Pontius crossed the ball to Fred, who beat Hall. Cepero blocked Fred's shot, but the ball rebounded to Fred off his chest and he fired the ball home for an astounding 4-0 lead.
"We came out flat, disorganized," midfielder Luke Sassano said. "They had a couple of chances. We had a couple of mistakes and they just capitalized on it."
The Red Bulls' first scoring opportunity in the first half came in the 22nd minute as Wolyniec, off a Dane Richards feed, had his attempt blocked by goalkeeper Josh Wicks.
Midfielder Khano Smith had a great chance for the visitors in the 43rd minute. Left fullback Danleigh Borman put Smith through and the Bermudan international raced into the penalty area. Wicks, however, punched away his curling shot.
Richards, however, finally did find the back of the net in the 44th minute, converting a Wolyniec feed.
In an attempt to wake-up his team, Osorio made three halftime subs -- pulling defender Andrew Boyens and midfielders Khano Smith and Juan Pietravallo for defender Kevin Goldthwaite and midfielders Jorge Rojas and Nick Zimmerman. The Red Bulls went from a 4-4-2 formation to a 3-5-2.
It worked, but it wasn’t enough.
"We got screamed at at halftime, and deservedly so," wolyniec said. "Obviously the lesson is, never do that again."
The Red Bulls sliced the lead in half in the 48th minute as Rojas volleyed home a Wolyniec free kick from the top of the area for a 4-2 deficit.
"We knew we had to play better in the second half," Sassano said. "We had to step it up."
But four minutes later United struck yet again. Fred played a cross into the area. Cepero came off his line, but failed to reach the ball as Pontius got to it first and the rookie connected for his second goal of the match.
The Red Bulls cut the lead to 5-3 on a Rojas penalty kick in the 63rd minute. Defender Greg Janicki was called for a handball by referee Mark Kadlecik off a Borman left-wing cross in the box. Rojas shot toward one corner as Wicks guessed wrong.
"Being on the bench, it creates even more pressure because you come in and they expect you to do everything that everyone [else] was not doing: show more effort, have more ball control, control the game, and give everything that you can," Rojas said.
The visitors almost made it a one-goal game within a two-minute span. First, Wolyniec got past his defender on the left side and sent a cross that Janicki almost knocked into his own net in the 74th minute. Luke Sassano played the ball over the top to Borman, whose shot was blocked by Wicks.
"The second half was completely different," Osorio said. "I thought that we could have tied the game, as bad as it was. We had enough chances to probably tie the game. I think we controlled the game."
Osorio did find one thing to be optimistic about.
"As always, I like to look at the positives," he said. "I think in the second half, Nick, his first game against an MLS team, looked good. I learned a lot today from my players."
