Although it seems they were left for dead two months ago, the Red Bulls were officially eliminated from Major League Soccer playoff contention Saturday night, losing to the Kansas City Wizards, 1-0, at Giants Stadium.
“Right now we don’t have a chance to make the playoffs, but we still have to play like we’re reaching for something,” Red Bulls goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul said. “Our next season starts now.”
Josh Wolff scored the lone goal in the 10th minute, slotting a rebound into the open net from 35 yards after Coundoul raced off his line to save Claudio Lopez’s initial shot.
Lopez beat Jorge Rojas in a race of aged South Americans after he collected an errant ball from Ernst Oebster that went off Rojas’ head. Coundoul came off his line to kick away the attempt, but the ball bounced to Wolff, who knocked the ball in from 35 yards out.
“It’s difficult giving up that goal,” interim Red Bulls coach Richie Williams said. “It’s a terrible breakdown.”
Despite coming off a bye week and facing a team that was playing its third game in seven days, the Red Bulls let Kansas City, which won at the Meadowlands for the first time since 2000, be the aggressor in the opening 45 minutes. New York was disjointed in the attacking third, with Mac Kandji dropping too deep in the midfield and Dane Richards, who scored in consecutive victories, was invisible on the right side.
“He was moving around the field too much and wasn’t playing as a forward, playing with John Wolyniec up front,” Williams said of Kandji. “You need those guys in front of the goal to score goals and I like the idea that he likes to go and get the ball and be involved in the game…but he has to stay in front of the goal.”
The Red Bulls, which saw a season-high two-game winning streak snapped, were more dangerous in the second half. But they couldn’t solve Kevin Hartman, who made five saves to earn his sixth shutout of the season.
“We were very unlucky,” Kandji said. “With a game like that, I think it’s one of the toughest losses we’ve had…If we would have played the first half like we did the second half, I think we would have come out with at least a tie.”
In the 76th minute, Wolyniec had an open header in the box, but his attempt sailed over the bar. Six minutes later, Seth Stammler pushed his shot from nearly 40 yards out well over the crossbar.
The Red Bulls, which fell to 4-17-4 and remain in last place in the Eastern Conference, had a golden chance to equalize in the 90th minute, but Hartman dived to his left to save Carlos Johnson’s near post chip. Johnson was sent off at the final whistle, the Costa Rican international’s third ejection of the season — and second against the Wizards — following an altercation with KC defender Michael Harrington.
“I have no idea why,” Johnson said through an interpreter when asked about his red card. “He pushed me, I stood back and after I saw the referee give me a red card. I had no idea why he gave me the red card. I didn’t respond to any aggression. Simple, I don’t know.”
