HARRISON, N.J. – Thierry Henry scored his league-leading ninth goal of the season and rookie goalkeeper Ryan Meara made five saves to record his first career shutout as the New England Revolution suffered a 1-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls on Saturday afternoon at Red Bull Arena.
Henry scored the game’s only goal in the seventh minute before exiting the game with a right hamstring injury in the 25th minute. The Revs (2-5-0, 6 pts.) controlled possession for large stretches after Henry’s departure but the Red Bulls (4-3-1, 13 pts.) held on for their first clean sheet of the 2012 season.
Shalrie Joseph returned from suspension to partner Clyde Simms in New England’s central midfield, pushing Kelyn Rowe to the right wing in place of the injured Ryan Guy (R calf tightness).
The Red Bulls were on the front foot from the opening whistle and their industriousness paid off in the seventh minute. Left back Connor Lade played a searching ball out of the back and Henry chased, fighting off the challenge of Stephen McCarthy before expertly lofting the ball over Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis from 20 yards out.
Kenny Cooper threatened to double the hosts’ advantage in the 11th minute with a knuckling drive from the top of the box, but Reis was alert to the danger and made a one-handed save. Reis was beaten by Dax McCarty in the 12th minute, but the midfielder’s volley slammed off the right post.
New England created its first quality chance in the 20th minute when a one-two between Saer Sène and Jose Moreno sent Sène into the box, but Meara charged off his line and stuffed Sène’s close-range effort. Sène went close again in the 38th minute when he weaved his way through New York’s backline with ease only to see his low shot pushed off the right post by Meara.
Benny Feilhaber replaced Kelyn Rowe to start the second half and the move almost paid dividends in the 77th minute. Joseph’s clever chip over the top found Feilhaber behind the Red Bulls’ backline but the midfielder’s deft header was right at Meara.
New York’s rookie goalkeeper came up big twice more to preserve the shutout in the closing stages. Feilhaber tested Meara once again the 88th minute with a knuckling drive from 15 yards out and Lee Nguyen put a curling effort on frame from a similar spot in the second minute of stoppage time but Meara was up to the task on both occasions.
The Revs continue their three-games-in-eight-days stretch on Wednesday, May 2, when they’ll welcome the Colorado Rapids to Gillette Stadium. Kickoff for the midweek encounter is set for 8 p.m.
New England Revolution at New York Red Bulls
April 28, 2012 – Red Bull Arena (Harrison, N.J.)
New York Red Bulls 1, New England Revolution 0
Scoring Summary:
NYRB – Thierry Henry (Connor Lade) 7
New England Revolution: Matt Reis, Chris Tierney (Alec Purdie 87), A.J. Soares, Stephen McCarthy, Kevin Alston, Lee Nguyen, Shalrie Joseph ©, Clyde Simms, Kelyn Rowe (Benny Feilhaber 46), Saer Sène, Jose Moreno (Bjorn Runstrom 75)
Substitutes Not Used: Bobby Shuttleworth, John Lozano, Darrius Barnes, Fernando Cardenas
STATS: Shots 12, Shots on Target 5, Corner Kicks 5, Saves 5, Fouls 9, Offsides 3, Passes (percentage) 588 (82.7%), Possession 58.9
New York Red Bulls: Ryan Meara, Connor Lade, Tyler Ruthven, Markus Holgersson, Brandon Barklage, Mehdi Ballouchy (Jhonny Arteaga 85), Joel Lindpere, Dax McCarty, Dane Richards, Kenny Cooper, Thierry Henry © (Victor Palsson 25)
Substitutes Not Used: Jeremy Vuolo, Jonathan Borrajo, Ryan Maduro, Corey Hertzog
STATS: Shots 13, Shots on Target 6, Corner Kicks 7, Saves 5, Fouls 15, Offsides 2, Passes (percentage) 402 (73.5), Possession 41.1%
Misconduct Summary:
NYRB – Tyler Ruthvan (caution) 18
NE – Shalrie Joseph (caution) 19
Team Records:
New York Red Bulls – 4-3-1, 13 pts.
New England Revolution – 2-5-0, 6 pts.
Referee: Jair Marrufo
Assistant Referees: Eric Boria, Corey Rockwell
Fourth Official: Fotis Bazakos
Weather: Cloudy and 61 degrees
Attendance: 18,152
NOTES
· Today’s match was the 64th all-time meeting between the Revolution and Red Bulls, including MLS regular-season, MLS Cup Playoffs and U.S. Open Cup meetings… New England and New York have played 56 times in regular-season action
· The Revs’ 64 meetings with New York match the team’s 64 matches against D.C. United, and are tied as the Revs’ all-time most-frequent opponent
· With the loss, the Revs moved their current winless streak to three games (0-3-0) and went winless in the month of April for the first time since 2004 (0-2-1)
· The loss dropped the Revs’ all-time record against New York to 25-19-12, including an 8-15-7 mark in away matches
· The loss moved the Revs’ record at Red Bull Arena to 0-3-0 in MLS regular-season games … overall, the Revs are now 0-4-0 at RBA having also dropped a U.S. Open Cup play-in match at the stadium in 2010.
· The loss extended New York’s undefeated streak against New England to four matches (3-0-1)
· Only four Revolution players have started all seven games this season: Matt Reis, Kelyn Rowe, Clyde Simms and A.J. Soares
· One additional player – Lee Nguyen – has appeared in all seven games … Nguyen came on as a substitute in the team’s season opener, but has started the six games since
· Today’s game marked the first game which Ryan Guy missed in 2012 … the midfielder did not make the trip to New York because of right calf tightness
· Shalrie Joseph returned to the lineup after sitting out the team’s last match while serving a one-game MLS Disciplinary Decision suspension stemming from an incident at Dallas on April 5
· Tonight’s game marks the end of the road-heavy portion of the team’s schedule to open the year as five of the team’s first seven matches have been on the road to start the 2012 season … coming up, eight of the team’s next 11 matches will be played at Gillette Stadium
· The Revs this season are 1-4-0 in one-goal games … the only win came in the 1-0 win against Portland at Gillette Stadium on March 24 … losses came tonight and at San Jose (1-0, March 10), at Dallas (1-0, April 5) and against D.C. United (2-1, April 14)
· The Revs’ last three losses have all come via one-goal defeats
· Benny Feilhaber made his second-consecutive substitute appearance after missing three games with a left peroneal strain
