Red Bulls defeat Sporting Kansas City
The New York Red Bulls and Sporting Kansas City headed into halftime tied, 1-1. Sporting went on top midway through the second half, before the Red Bulls stormed back with a brace from Marc Rzatkowski.
The New York Red Bulls took an early lead, but had to battle back from a second-half deficit to defeat Sporting Kansas City by a 3-2 scoreline at Red Bull Arena on Saturday.
The Red Bulls took the lead in the opening minutes, as Bradley Wright-Phillips was fed a through ball by Alejandro “Kaku” Romero Gamarra and sent a delicate chip into the goal. While the goal was initially called offside, the decision was reversed following a Video Review.
Just four minutes later, Sporting tied up the match, as Johnny Russell turned in Graham Zusi’s low cross. And six minutes into the second half, Roger Espinoza gave Sporting the lead with a driven blast from well outside the 18-yard box. Red Bulls substitute Marc Rzatkowski scored an equalizer in the 72nd minute to turn the game’s fortunes around for the home side, and then hit the go-ahead goal seven minutes later.
Head Coach Chris Armas said that he addressed the team at halftime to make adjustments and to work together.
The Red Bulls are 14-2-1 across all competitions when scoring first in 2018. When tied or leading in the 75th minute, the Red Bulls are 14-1-3.
“I guess you could say great teamwork in the end,” Midfielder Tyler Adams said after the game. “We pulled through, obviously going down a goal after a pretty good start, it stinks because we always feel like we’re battling with the heat, kind of against all odds but we know at home we’re a strong team.”
Following his entrance off the bench in the 60th minute, Rzatkowski tallied back-to-back goals in a six-minute span (72’ & 78’).
“I think the biggest difference today was our subs, they came in and they made a huge difference for us,” Adams said.
This is the second come-from-behind victory in MLS this season for the Red Bulls.
