Red Bulls wins with 3-0 over Minnestota
New Jersey, Harrison — Alex Muyl got off on the right foot in his first action of the MLS season in the third game on the schedule.
Despite logging minutes in every Concacaf Champions League match this season, Muyl got his first start and first minutes in MLS play on Saturday night as the New York Red Bulls rolled Minnesota United FC 3-0 at Red Bull Arena.
“I think we came in with the right mentality, and being at home you have to treat it like a fortress,” Muyl said. “We kept the clean sheet and that’s the most important thing, usually when we do that, we’re coming away with three points and that’s what happened tonight.”
Muyl found his first goal of the season in the 15th minute, curling his shot from the right corner of the 18-yard box to the far post.
“Everyone respects Alex so much for all the hard work he puts in and what an intelligent player he is and he’s one of the best tactical players we have,” Head Coach Jesse Marsch said. “He’s hard on himself that he doesn’t put together enough final plays and I keep saying to him, ‘Relax.’ That part comes and I’ve seen him enough in training and watched him enough over the last few years to know that he has quality.”
Muyl not only scored his first goal of 2018, he tallied his first career multi-point game with a goal and an assist, passing to Bradley Wright-Phillips for No. 99’s second goal of the night.
“If Alex can continue to put the pieces together, then he can become a real complete player, which in many ways he already is,” Marsch said. “He doesn’t always get the headlines and he doesn’t always get the accolades and goals, but in terms of setting the standard of how we want the game to be played tactically and philosophically, he’s incredibly important, and he often frees up space. He can harbor a lot of the workload, draw attention at times, and do the dirty work for them to score goals and set plays up.”
Head Coach Jesse Marsch was very happy for Muyl’s performance tonight. “Everyone respects Alex so much for all the hard work he putts in and what an intelligent player he is and he’s one of the best tactical players we have. He’s hard on himself that he doesn’t put together enough final plays and I keep saying to him, relax. That part comes and I’ve seen him enough in training and watched him enough over the last few years to know that he has quality.” said Marsch,
“For him, it’s a lot about some confidence and belief in himself and slowing himself down to make some of those plays. Yeah, a very good goal and a very, very good assist. So you know, if Alex can continue to putt that piece together, then he can become a real complete player, which in many ways he already is.”
But as usual Bradley Wright-Phillips is on another level. Especially to the start of this season as he had to change up his offseason workouts to be physically and mentally sharp to start the league season as well as international club competition in the CONCACAF Champions League.
