Red Bulls Fall to a Penalty for the Fire

In another must-win match for the New York Red Bulls to stay in a playoff position, they had to get themselves into a positive result and remain above the line. But once again, after another 90 minutes, it became another poor road loss, at a venue they haven’t been good at for a very long time. Losing to the Chicago Fire by a final score of a goal to nil.

The only tally that went in the net was off a penalty that would be awarded through VAR, after Alexander Hack made a sliding challenge during a pass by Hugo Cuypers at the far post, then out for a corner for Chicago. VAR called referee Allan Chapman over to the monitor, and as he saw the replay, Hack had both of his hands and arms away from his body to keep him upright while sliding, and the ball hit his right arm inside the area.

While the law is clear on that penalty call, Cuypers took the spot kick and scored late in the first half in the 44th minute for the Fire to grab the lead, and they didn’t let it go. For the rest of the match, the Fire frustrated the Red Bulls every time they attacked their area. You also saw at times in the second half passes weren’t completed, or mental mistakes that allowed the Fire to make counterattacking runs, but even they couldn’t score during the run of play.

The one moment that it looked like the Red Bulls were going to score the first goal of the match was in the 36th minute, when they tried to attack the net, but the Chicago backline prevented them inside the area. The ball was brought back outside of the area, then Ronald Donkor took a long distance shot that beat everyone except for the far post. That was the moment.

Even though this match wasn’t positive, you have to say that goalkeeper Carlos Coronel, kept his team alive throughout the entire match, making big saves when they needed him in a major way. At least he put himself in to perfect position to stop the big chances from Cuypers, Zinckernagel, and Bamba. Unfortunately, the penalty was the only goal to beat him.

But for now, the Red Bulls are outside of the playoffs in tenth place, and they have the Leagues Cup in front of them, with the makeup date for the US Open Cup Quarterfinals against the Union and restarting their league season at home against Real Salt Lake for Sunday Night Soccer. Overall, nine matches remain in the regular season to keep that playoff qualification streak alive.

While the club has acquired Swedish Midfielder Gustav Berggren, this is still day three, but heading into day four of the MLS Summer Transfer Window, so Director of Sport Jochen Schneider still has time to make some moves and to bring in players hopefully to change their fortunes and put them back into a playoff position when they return to league play.

“Yeah, I would say it was a really good start. We had our moment, our transitions, our overall position. Then we lost before we could get the goal, and then penalty situation, we lost very easily, the ball. We played backwards. So this was the first point, which was not good, and then the situation with the penalty. I haven’t seen it so, but the angle today for the video assistant was maybe better than last week. It’s okay,” said Head Coach Sandro Schwarz, “This is what we have to respect. And yeah, in the second half, we tried everything. We tried everything. I can’t say that we didn’t run or fight or something like that. We tried everything. But at this moment, it’s a little bit typical for us, the way we lost today, this game with a penalty situation. We had a lot of good situations in the final third where you have to cross or to go in one against one situation.

“But at the end, in these moments to create your momentum, especially on the road, which is very important, we have so many moments sitting in where we can create this and then we didn’t win this one against one, dwell in our offense and the final pass, and it was tough today, but in the final third, it’s not good enough, because it’s clear that it’s not good enough. But it’s not the behavior or the mentality or something like that.

We tried everything, but in the final third, where you meet, and also these moments, good decision in the final pass, or to have to cross this situation if you need it, or an hour, or in your transition moments. And this is not good as we have to improve every time, which is very hard for individual development. That’s what we can do. But at this moment, that’s not good enough, and especially in the final third. “

Right now, things are not going well, and that hope for a shot in the arm is fading. The fans are rightfully upset and are wondering if any change will be coming at all to save the season. It’s not just to win at home, but their road performance all season long has been abysmal. Winning against DC United on the road is not enough for this team to show they have the capability to win the league and MLS Cup.