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New York Red Bulls earn draw vs. Philly thanks to Tim Parker’s heroics (Highlights)

The New York Red Bulls, on a hot, humid night, came away with one point thanks to Tim Parker’s heroics against a strong Philadelphia side.

New York Red Bulls v. Philadelphia Union
May 26, 2018
7 p.m. ET, Red Bull Arena

Reported Attendance: 17,814

Summary

Harrison, New Jersey: The New York Red Bulls played to a scoreless draw. A goalline clearance by Tim Parker and a high-positioned playing Ryan Meara earned RBNY a clean sheet. A missed penalty by Philadelphia from a controversial handball also contributed to the 0-0 draw. RBNY maintained possession for most of the match, but Philadelphia’s late game threatened RBNY’s home advantage.

Previous game against Atlanta.

Starting XI:

RBNY
Ryan Meara, Kemar Lawrence, Aaron Long, Michael Murillo, Tim Parker, Kaku, Daniel Royer, Tyler Adams, Florian Valot, Sean Davis, Bradley Wright-Phillips

PHI
Andre Blake, Raymon Gaddis, Auston Trusty, Keegan Rosenberry, Mark McKenzie, Marcus Epps, Alejandro Bedoya, Borek Dockal, Fabrice-Jean Picault, Haris Medunjanin, C.J. Sapong.

On a humid Saturday night in Harrison, New Jersey, the New York Red Bulls hosted the Philadelphia Union. The night and pre-game ceremonies paid tribute to our nation’s armed forces in Military Appreciation Night. Luis Robles’ was also honored for his 183 consecutive starts for RBNY.

Early Moments

The early moments of the match were slow. RBNY opened with their characteristic high-pressure attack. This kept most of the possession around midfield and Philadelphia’s final third.

In the 13th minute, Kaku struck a curling right-footed shot from just around the eighteen-year box. His attempt was met by the acrobatic dive of Andre Blake who kept the game 0-0.

BWP in the sixteenth minute had an opportunity from the left side of the goal within the eighteen-yard box. He received a pass from Daniel Royer in the run of play, but BWP was unable to convert.

Parker Heroics

In the eighteenth minute, it seemed that the score would be 1-0 in favor of Philadelphia. As a Philadelphia attacker found themselves open near the six-yard box, his left-footed shot glanced past Ryan Meara. Tim Parker, however, cleared the hard shot from nearly the goal line with his head.

In the 29th minute, Ryan Meara, in typical game-saving style, came up big with a save from a breakaway from Marcus Epps. His right-footed attempt failed to find its way past Ryan Meara.

In the 32nd minute, RBNY’s BWP seemingly put one passed Andre Blake, but was called back for an offside call.

RBNY Possession

Just before halftime, the possession was all but in the hands of RBNY. At over 55% RBNY had command of the game with many more goal scoring opportunities than Philadelphia.

In the 45th minute, Daniel Royer drew a foul on the edge of the eighteen-yard box on the left-hand side of the goal. Murillo’s succeeding shot met the wall, where then the ball was guided out of bounds.

As the halftime whistle blew, RBNY showed themselves to be the better team with greater possession. However, they were unable to convert as the Philadelphia outnumbered RBNY in shots on goal. The teams remained scoreless at half.

Halftime Stats

Goals: RBNY 0 – PHI 0
Shots: RBNY 7 – PHI 4
Shots on Goal: RBNY 2 – PHI 3
Possession: RBNY 54.1% – PHI 45.9%

Second Half

In the 52nd minute, RBNY defender Kemar Lawrence conceded a penalty kick in the box due to what seemed to be an inadvertent handball. The succeeding spot kick by Sapong saw a diving Ryan Meara to the left, but his shot missed wide right.

The New York Red Bulls and Philadelphia Union came out in full swing. The game saw about three shots on target within the first ten minutes of the second half.

Was It Offside?

In the 62nd minute, Daniel Royer received a spectacular flick from BWP just outside the center of the eighteen-yard box. What was called offside seemed incorrect by the replay, but nonetheless, the call was upheld. If not, the result could have been a penalty kick drawn by Royer after his encounter with Blake after the BWP pass.

In the 77th minute, BWP found himself in a footrace with two defenders on his tail. After receiving a through ball, however, his goal-scoring opportunity went wide of the net giving no threat to the alert Blake.

Heat Takes Its Toll

For much of the later portion of the second half, play was sloppy and inconsistent. Both RBNY and the Union played a game of wavering possession. Unconnected passes led to minimal opportunities on both ends, which seemed to result from fatigue from the hot, humid game time conditions.

The four minutes of extra time did not yield any result on either end. At the 90th minute, the game’s ending score was the same as its beginning, 0-0.

While RBNY did not capitalize on the home field advantage, they nevertheless extracted one point from a strong showing by the Philadelphia Union.

Final Stats

Goals: RBNY 0 – PHI 0
Shots: RBNY 12 – PHI 10
Shots on Goal: RBNY 4 – PHI 3
Possession: RBNY 52% – PHI 48%

The New York Red Bulls will next face the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium on June 2.

Chris Sudol is a former college soccer player who now avidly supports the New York Red Bulls, Arsenal, and Barcelona, among many other soccer teams.