Red Bull & Quake draw amid controversy
4/8/23
J.J. Pavlick
Entering tonight we have two teams on different paths early this season, the home side Red Bull is trying to break the goal-scoring struggles. New York has just 4 goals in their first six games, the last time they scored multiple goals was at home against Colombus otherwise it's been 1 or none which is not a winning formula in this tough eastern conference where they currently sit in 12th place. San Jose sits in fifth place in the western conference, scoring 6 goals in 6 games. The Red Bull need to win and make a statement tonight even though we're in the opening section of the season. Fans and supporters are starting to rumble calls for Struber to step aside and while unfair at this time they're also not totally off base. In tonight's game, Red Bull needs to feed off the crowd and dominate in all 3 sections of the pitch. They can't sit back and rely on the defense to win matches and their once heavily reliable keeper Carlos Coronel has been out of sorts on the pitch this season. Wikki has been brought up from Red Bull 2 tonight and is starting on the bench. The fans are in their seats and ready to go, the DJ is cranking the music and the Southward is loud!
The long-awaited start by the Belgium wonder is here Dante Vanzeir is starting up top with Cory Burke. The center starts the match, and the crowd is buzzing waiting to see the new era with Dante leading the way. An early miscue between S. Nealis and Coronel almost turns to disaster in the 2nd minute of the match as J. Mensah slips between them at the 1st post and sees his shot blocked out for a corner at the last second. Dante and Burke counter off the corner but Burke overruns the pass and San Jose calms things down. Burke's shot goes just wide in the 5th minute and Harper seems unhappy with his teammate's decision to shoot there. A great cross into the box by Casseres finds the head of Dante but it goes inches wide of the far post. The Red Bull has looked dangerous on the attack tonight so far, Harper is getting talked to by the center already just 8 minutes into the match after a reckless tackle on the sideline in front of the home bench. Coronel makes a big save for stopping a well-placed cross into the box and the dangerous setup. Omir goes in the referee's book in the 11th minute with a yellow card, after a hard tackle 40 yards from the goal. The playing style we've been waiting to see from the New York side appears as Dante spins out of danger at midfield beating two San Jose midfielders with ease and lays off a nice pass to Harper 45 yards from goal, he sends in a beautiful cross low to Burke but he gets dispossessed at the top on the box in the 13th minute. The scoring woes continue in New York despite them having several dangerous chances in the first 15 minutes of action. You can feel it in the air Burke and Dante are on the verge of glory tonight. they've been giving the Quake backline trouble all night so far and just missing by a step at most from finding that last pass needed to send one in on goal for the lead. Dante the Wonder draws a hard foul near the box, and it looked like it could've been red given it seemed to be the last defender, VAR and the center confirm the other defender was close enough to keep it just a yellow card. Red Bull wastes the opportunity on a low-driven cross into the box. The Nealis brothers avoid danger after two passes went astray in the box, 30 minutes in and we remain 0-0. The fans are getting louder, and the supporter section is trying to will a goal. In the 35th Dante with the one-touch strike, was blocked by JT at the last moment. Now in the final stretch to the first half the score stayed 0 - 0 despite several chances. J. Yueill for San Jose nearly catches Coronel out of the net hitting the bottom of the crossbar from 30 yards out in the 44th minute of play. The fourth shows a minimum of two additional minutes to be added to the first half of play. In added time Dante finds Burke just feet from the goal but his shot is placed well wide of the goal.
The 1st half saw lots of action in front of both goalkeepers, but they weathered the storm and kept the score 0 - 0 at the half. The Red Bull has looked better offensively with Dante and Cory upfront. The second half will see the Red Bull going toward their supporter's section and hopefully that will be the boost needed to capitalize tonight.
"Right now, nothing is 100% clear, we will support the league in its investigation." -- Struber head coach NY Red Bull
Sean Nealis was issued a yellow card for dissent in the 54' by the Center referee who is out of his element tonight. He has put players in bad spots and refused to deal with it properly. Yet one more black eye on Pro this season. Dante then goes after the offender and Sean quickly steps in to protect his striker. San Jose Judson was shown a yellow card for the foul, the card comes extremely late in the 56'. Now the center is talking to Dante and delaying the restart even more and the fans have had it echoing their displeasure toward the man in the middle. in the 58th minute of non-action, San Jose makes a sub bringing on C. Gruezo for Judson. Now San Jose is all over the 4th official complaining and the fourth has had it, the center taking his sweet time to walk back over to handle the new delays. The Fans are getting louder with their displeasure. Fans start chanting "Let them Play" in the 68th minute of a long-delayed restart by the center referee. After the long break play finally starts in the 73rd minute. In the 80' San Jose breaks open the scoring when Espinoza turns Dylan Nealis around in the box and beats Coronel near side. Sean Nealis tried to slide in to stop it but came up just short. It's now 1 -0 San Jose after the long break in action. The atmosphere was drained by the long stoppage and the Red Bull haven't looked the same. The Red Bull make two substitutions bringing on Stroud for Amaya and Manoel for Dante in the 86th minute. The fans voice their displeasure at the subbing of Dante. In the 89' Coronel caught out but manages to get just enough to stop the scoring opportunity for San Jose. The score remains 1 - 0 for the Quake, but a bucket load of extra time is still to be announced and played. New York takes out Burke for Barlow in the 90' and the fourth announces a minimum of 21 additional minutes of play in the second half. Yes, you read that correctly 21 minutes minimum added to the half. Substitutions for San Jose #28 B. Kikanovic on/#44 C Cowell off & #55 M. Baldisimo on/#35 Jamiro Monteiro in the 90+8', two minutes later NY substitution #19 W. Carmona on/#12 Dylan Nealis off. A yellow card has been shown to #3 P. Marie of SJ for delaying the restart at 90'+13' of the second half. The latest goal in MLS history was scored, by T. Barlow of the Red Bull in the 90'+17' to tie the game at 1 - 1, after Duncan's shot was saved by the Quake goalkeeper. Two minutes later San Jose makes a substitution bringing on #25 O. Bouda for #11 Ebobisse, the center blows the final whistle at 90'+22'.
After the game, the media was made aware that the delay during the second half was due to a racist comment being investigated. Both players and coaches for Red Bull went with no comment at this time while it's being investigated by the league. Struber and Team Captain Sean Nealis kept their responses short in response.