Sparkling play by the Red Bulls as they outshone City in the Barclays New York Challenge. The last 15 minutes were all Red Bulls as they treated their fans to some excellent ball possession frustrating City's attempts to score the equalizer.
Dane Richards was the best player on the field as his speed and ability to cut inside kept Wayne Bridge on his toes. In the 5th minute, Richards outpaced Bridge on the right flank and turning the corner, centered the ball to Macumba Kandji, who toe poked the ball past Joe Hart. Kandji and Thierry Henry kept the crowd entertained with their one touch ball.
That's what Titi brings to the game as he laid back a bit deeper, allowing Kandji to come up front, and tried to hit him on the break with some clever touches. It almost worked on a couple of occasions.
Jo equalized for City but later in the match, Kandji laid off a perfect pass across to Richards, and the little winger smacked in an absolute beauty.
Roberto Mancini made a number of substitutions bringing in the very dangerous Adam Johnson who created the best chance for an equalizer but Alex Nimeley's touch was off. Emmanuel Adebayor and Jo also had their chances but Bouna Coundoul made two very good saves. Adebayor got no love from the crowd this side of the pond too- each touch was booed. Very nice.
But City also showed why it will struggle this season - they just do not have the creative midfielder who can put together that killer pass or control the midfield. They are too disparate a team with excellent individuals in both attack and defense. But there are very long linkages to deal with over here. Inter faced the same problem under Roberto Mancini till Mourinho went and got hold of Wesley Sneijder. On the other side, a very good Siniša Ubiparipović kept tight control of the passing game after Thierry Henry was subbed off in the second half.
Full marks to the Red Bulls. Its got me all lathered up and ready to become a fan. This could be a fantastic season for them - Thierry Henry, Juan Pablo Angel, Macoumba Kandji, Dane Richards, Jeremy Hall, Tony Tchani, Andrew Boyens, Bouna Coundoul. A great mix of experience and youth with some very good talent.
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