Harrison, NJ - The fans and coaching staff might not like them, but the New York Red Bulls are making a knack off performing well in international friendlies. After two wins in last year's International Champions Cup, including a 4-2 beat down on British powerhouse Chelsea, the Red Bulls have once again beaten a big club in a meaningless match. New York defeated Mexican powerhouse Club America 2-0 Wednesday night in New Jersey.
Early Push of the Bike
Despite supporter group protest and the feeling of being the away team in their own stadium, the Red Bulls were able to get in and feel comfortable early on. Shawn Wright-Phillip's bicycle kick goal in the third minute set the tone for the match, as the Red Bulls' reserves were not going to allow America to just take possession and attack all match.
Red Bull youngsters Derrick Etienne Jr, Sean Davis, and Tyler Adams had a good match in the midfield for New York. The trio combined well to create turnovers on the press and found a good passing rhythm within the Club America midfield and defense gap. Etienne Jr even beautiful dribbled two America defenders on the goal line before his in-swinger was cleared to safety in the first half.
Second Half Survival
Despite doubling their lead early on in the second half with a lucky deflected strike from Dan Metzger, the Red Bulls, and backup goalkeeper Kyle Reynish had their back to the wall for almost thirty minutes straight. Reynish had to fend off chance after chance as the Mexican club threw the kitchen sink to try and appease the 18,000 or so of their fans at Red Bull Arena. Reynish clutch saves and key clearances by the defense allowed New York to steal the match 2-0.
Red Bulls' head coach Jessie Marsch spoke to me post match regarding his thoughts on Kyle Reynish's performance in net.
"Kyle has just been reliable and professional from day one that he's been here. He's been great in training every day, he puts everything he has into it, and he supports Luis [Robles] at the highest level. It's not always easy to be the backup goalkeeper. His approach and his mentality have meant that he's a big plus around here every day, in the locker room, on the field in training, and then when he gets his chance he always does well, whether it's with the USL team [or] friendlies, he's performed well every time he's been called on."
The Boss Speaks
Marsch also believes that the friendly can be good preparation for the CONCACAF Champions League, despite the fact that Club America are still a few weeks away from being in top form.
"First of all, that's a really good team. I know that they're early in their preseason, but regardless, there [were] a lot of really good players on the field, and their coach went out of his way to keep the good players on the field and to continue to put more good players on in the second half. So they went after it, and they wanted to get a result. They didn't want to lose the game today. So, you know, really proud of our guys, really proud to be part of this club.
I don't want to overplay it because Club America is definitely still in the beginning stages of their preseason. You see a little bit of the style, certainly some of the shiftiness and talents that a lot of Latin American players have on the ball. I think it was a good exercise in that sense but the game will be on the line in a totally different manner once we get to the CONCACAF games. We'll be prepared for a different mentality and approach."
Return to MLS Action
The Red Bulls return to league action on Sunday as the host defending MLS Cup winners the Portland Timbers at 6:00 PM EST.