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Wolff Fires Kansas City Past Red Bulls
A composed finish from Josh Wolff on an early Wizard’s counter attack was all KC needed to see off the injury-riddled Red Bulls.
Sep 13, 2009 12:12:16 AM
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.--It was a tight affair on a dreary night in New Jersey when the Kansas City Wizards visited the New York Red Bulls. Both teams are adjusting to new interim coaches, and both are responding well to the change despite being out of the playoff race. The New York Red Bulls played without a slew of injured players including captain Juan Pablo Angel, who was replaced by Mac Kandji.
The Wizards are finishing up a three game east coast trip after beating New England last weekend and losing to D.C. United in midweek. With only seven games to play, interim head coach Peter Vermes and Kansas City find themselves ten points outside of the playoff spots.
First Half
It did not take long for the game to open up. Mac Kandji created space for himself down the left in the 7th minute. After a failed pass to Dane Richards, Kandji regained possession with Jimmy Conrad on his back. He rolled the ball out to his left and spun quickly to deliver a low hard shot to the near post. Kevin Hartman did well to parry the surprising shot, but almost conceded a penalty as Richards pounced on the rebound and then fell to the ground, but the referee was having none of it.
Only two minutes later, Ernst Oebster aimlessly kicked the ball high near the half line. Rojas headed the ball down to where he thought Danleigh Borman would be, but found Claudio Lopez instead. Lopez drove to the Red Bulls box and was denied by a quickly charging Bouna Coundoul, but Josh Wolff one-timed the rebound past everyone into the net from 40 yards out.
Wolff nearly doubled the lead in the 18th minute. After a free kick from Jorge Rojas failed to reach the penalty area and fell to Hercules Gomez, a beautiful lead pass found Josh Wolff alone in on goal as the core of the New York defense was stranded on the other end. Again, Coundoul came out quickly, but Wolff’s early shot missed the right goal post by inches.
Ernst Oebster and Jorge Rojas combined well in the 37th minute to nearly make up for their previous mistakes. Rojas gained possession near midfield and drove at the KC defense before playing a nice ball between the center backs to the Austrian winger, but Kevin Hartman came out strong, kicking the ball clear.
Kandji almost equalized in the 40th minute when Santiago Hirsig passed the ball straight to him near midfield. Kandji took the open space as John Wolyniec and Obster made distracting runs. Kandji blew past his man into the right side of the box, but his hard shot was slapped out by Hartman for a corner.
Throughout the half, KC had counterattacking opportunities, as the Red Bulls had more possession but continued to give up the ball in dangerous positions, however the visitors couldn’t find a second goal.
Second Half
The Red Bulls came out with much more energy in the second half, creating several half-chances in the opening minutes. A cross from Richards found Kandji but his shot hit Wolyniec. Wolyniec popped up again minutes later as he fought for the ball and played a give and go with Rojas, but Hartman cleaned up the loose ball.
Only a minute later, Kandji found himself in a one-on-one with Kevin Hartman, except it was all the way out in the left corner. Hartman had charged out to close down Kandji and recovered well to concede a corner.
KC missed a great opportunity to extend the lead in the 57th minute after a failed clearance by Carlos Johnson gave Hirsig a point blank volley. Unfortunately for Hirsig, he fired a volley straight into Coundoul’s legs.
Soon after, Johnson showed his attacking ability as he fought his way down the right wing and sent in a good cross. Hartman came out but failed to hold onto the ball and Kandji was able to lay it off to Rojas, but his shot was headed out for a corner by Jonathon Leathers.
The Red Bulls dominated possession as Kansas City was content to put everyone except Lopez behind the ball to see out the game. The best chance to equalize came in the 90th minute as substitute Matthew Mbuta managed to get a low cross in to Carlos Johnson on the near post, who smacked the ball towards the near post. Hartman reacted quickly, diving to his left to knock the ball out for a corner.
Carlos Johnson picked up an undeserved red card after a scuffle with Michael Harrington on the last play of the game. Harrington did most of the shoving, but the referee ejected Johnson instead.
Terence Steed is the New York correspondent for Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page
The Wizards are finishing up a three game east coast trip after beating New England last weekend and losing to D.C. United in midweek. With only seven games to play, interim head coach Peter Vermes and Kansas City find themselves ten points outside of the playoff spots.
First Half
It did not take long for the game to open up. Mac Kandji created space for himself down the left in the 7th minute. After a failed pass to Dane Richards, Kandji regained possession with Jimmy Conrad on his back. He rolled the ball out to his left and spun quickly to deliver a low hard shot to the near post. Kevin Hartman did well to parry the surprising shot, but almost conceded a penalty as Richards pounced on the rebound and then fell to the ground, but the referee was having none of it.
Only two minutes later, Ernst Oebster aimlessly kicked the ball high near the half line. Rojas headed the ball down to where he thought Danleigh Borman would be, but found Claudio Lopez instead. Lopez drove to the Red Bulls box and was denied by a quickly charging Bouna Coundoul, but Josh Wolff one-timed the rebound past everyone into the net from 40 yards out.
Wolff nearly doubled the lead in the 18th minute. After a free kick from Jorge Rojas failed to reach the penalty area and fell to Hercules Gomez, a beautiful lead pass found Josh Wolff alone in on goal as the core of the New York defense was stranded on the other end. Again, Coundoul came out quickly, but Wolff’s early shot missed the right goal post by inches.
Ernst Oebster and Jorge Rojas combined well in the 37th minute to nearly make up for their previous mistakes. Rojas gained possession near midfield and drove at the KC defense before playing a nice ball between the center backs to the Austrian winger, but Kevin Hartman came out strong, kicking the ball clear.
Kandji almost equalized in the 40th minute when Santiago Hirsig passed the ball straight to him near midfield. Kandji took the open space as John Wolyniec and Obster made distracting runs. Kandji blew past his man into the right side of the box, but his hard shot was slapped out by Hartman for a corner.
Throughout the half, KC had counterattacking opportunities, as the Red Bulls had more possession but continued to give up the ball in dangerous positions, however the visitors couldn’t find a second goal.
Second Half
The Red Bulls came out with much more energy in the second half, creating several half-chances in the opening minutes. A cross from Richards found Kandji but his shot hit Wolyniec. Wolyniec popped up again minutes later as he fought for the ball and played a give and go with Rojas, but Hartman cleaned up the loose ball.
Only a minute later, Kandji found himself in a one-on-one with Kevin Hartman, except it was all the way out in the left corner. Hartman had charged out to close down Kandji and recovered well to concede a corner.
KC missed a great opportunity to extend the lead in the 57th minute after a failed clearance by Carlos Johnson gave Hirsig a point blank volley. Unfortunately for Hirsig, he fired a volley straight into Coundoul’s legs.
Soon after, Johnson showed his attacking ability as he fought his way down the right wing and sent in a good cross. Hartman came out but failed to hold onto the ball and Kandji was able to lay it off to Rojas, but his shot was headed out for a corner by Jonathon Leathers.
The Red Bulls dominated possession as Kansas City was content to put everyone except Lopez behind the ball to see out the game. The best chance to equalize came in the 90th minute as substitute Matthew Mbuta managed to get a low cross in to Carlos Johnson on the near post, who smacked the ball towards the near post. Hartman reacted quickly, diving to his left to knock the ball out for a corner.
Carlos Johnson picked up an undeserved red card after a scuffle with Michael Harrington on the last play of the game. Harrington did most of the shoving, but the referee ejected Johnson instead.
Terence Steed is the New York correspondent for Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page
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