Silent night
Bulls bow out of playoffs
That’s so Metro. Time and time again, the Red Bulls have had zero problems finding success in the regular season. They won their third Supporters’ Shield in five years, stealing it from Atlanta United on the final day of the season.
But once again, as they did when they were the MetroStars, they failed to perform when it mattered.
After their disastrous first leg against Atlanta United, which found them down 3-0 on aggregate, the Red Bulls went out without a whimper in the second leg of the Eastern Conference finals at Red Bull Arena on Thursday night. When the team needed at least three goals to make a game of this mess, the Red Bulls were tamed, netting just a late goal for a 1-0 win over Atlanta United.
A season in which the Red Bulls recorded the most points (71) in a regular season ends with all too familiar disappointment. The Red Bulls have been eliminated from the playoff in nine straight seasons, with Atlanta United advancing to MLS Cup on 3-1 aggregate.
“Things are tight in the playoffs and it’s about making plays,” coach Chris Armas said. “We had to make a few more of those on both ends of the field.”
Red Bulls defender Tim Parker grabbed a goal when it meant nothing in the 93rd minute. Asecond-half goal that was called back became just a footnote in what was a massive letdown overall.
Predictably, Atlanta United lined up in a 3-5-2 formation sitting players deep in their half as the Red Bulls would be gunning for multiple goals. Armas said his team was expecting that game plan and tried exploiting the flanks, but it seemed like the smallest thing went wrong on every attempt.
Like in the second half when Alex Muyl muffed a dangerous cross through the box or toward the end of the first half when Tyler Adams rushed his chance and skyed a shot over the bar with Atlanta keeper Brad Guzan pulled away from his net.
The Red Bulls’ patented high-press, counter-attacking style was stymied. Attempts to muster offense seemed half-hearted because of the Red Bulls’ inability to get into dangerous positions on Atlanta’s end. Part of that was Kemar Lawrence’s absence for a second straight game, but the Red Bulls managed just six total shots on net in the match despite controlling nearly 70 percent possession.
“We lost our aggressiveness and we weren’t ourselves as much,” Armas said. “… We lost the series in Leg 1. We didn’t make enough plays on either end of the field.”
Some of those plays were overturned by video-assisted review. Like in the first leg when Bradley WrightPhillips had a goal called off, Aaron Long’s 80th minute header was disallowed by VAR after he fouled Guzan.
At the beginning of the season, the Red Bulls’ praised this team as their best ever. But it was again not good enough.
“One doesn’t hurt more than another,” said goalkeeper Luis Robles about the team’s repeated playoff failures. “They are all just disappointing.”