Scoreless draw for Red Bulls
With an eye toward Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup final — and a shot at their first-ever cup conquest — the Red Bulls fielded a B team Sunday and got a C result, held to a scoreless draw by struggling Philadelphia.
But as disappointed as they and the 20,534 at Red Bull Arena were at getting shut out, they’ll be delirious if they bring home the ultimate prize from Kansas City — the first championship in team history.
“Ties suck … you always have an empty feeling whenever you get a draw. But we’ll be ready. We’re excited. We’re already switching our minds to Wednesday,’’ coach Jesse Marach said. “We all know it’s a big moment. It’s a big game. Any time you get to a final, you don’t know how many times you’re going to be back.”
Since MLS’ inception, the Red Bulls have reached just two finals and lost both. It’s why Marsch went with a reserve-heavy lineup. They outshot Philadelphia 16-6, and had an 8-2 edge in shots on goal, but couldn’t finish against a team mired in a six-game winless skid.
While Sporting KC used its starters Saturday, Marsch held Bradley Wright-Phillips, Sacha Kljestan, Tyler Adams, Aaron Long, Kemar Lawrence and Fidel Escobar out of the lineup.
“There was no message from Jesse. I don’t need him to hold my hand and tell me why I’m not starting,” said Kljestan, who came on in the 58th and just missed a cross to Alex Muyl, open in front of goal. “The same for Bradley and the other guys. We’re all in this together. We all know how important Wednesday is. I can’t be mad at the guys when I come off the bench and have the chance to take three points for us and I [muck] it up.”
Their attack has been mucked up since losing double-digit goalscorer Daniel Royer on Aug. 6 at NYCFC. They’d been 11-8-2 with a plus-6 goal different, but are just 1-2-4 with a minus-1 since. It’s an issue they must sort out to hoist a cup Wednesday.
“It’s everything. That’s why we’re in this business. Take away money, everything else. Everyone wants to lift a trophy,” Wright-Phillips said. “That proves you’re a good team … you put your name in history. For everyone involved in the club, that’ll be massive. To not have won a big trophy yet, this is a great opportunity for us.”