RED BULLS VS. FC DALLAS – SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 – 5:00 PM ET
Cahill now has eight goals to go along with four assists this season. The Australian is not unfamiliar with scoring while injured. On July 27 in New York’s 4-3 win over Real Salt Lake, despite suffering a torn PCL following a Yordany Alvarez fourth minute tackle, Cahill ended up on the scoresheet with a goal seven minutes later. He went onto miss two games due to the injury. This 2013 MLS All-Star has been influential for the Red Bulls in his first full League campaign and has started in 22 regular season matches this year. BWP, CARNEY EARN DEBUTS Less than a week after making his MLS debut, Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips earned his first start in New York’s 2-1 win over D.C. United Aug. 31. He recorded his MLS debut Aug. 25 at Chivas USA, coming on in the 58th minute for Fabian Espindola. Last Sunday at Houston, Wright-Phillips recorded his first MLS assist on Jonny Steele’s 59th minute goal. In addition, defender/midfielder David Carney started at left back against United and played the full 90 minutes in his first MLS appearance. New York signed Wright-Phillips on July 24. His career started in 2004, when he graduated from Manchester City’s academy and played for the Premiership side until 2006. The 28-year-old then moved onto English side, Southampton, where he amassed 111 appearances and scored 22 goals. From 2009-11, Wright-Phillips featured for Plymouth Argyle before the former English Under-20 International moved to Charlton Athletic. At Charlton, Wright-Phillips scored 31 goals in 82 games. Wright-Phillips was most recently at Brentford on loan, playing 15 matches and recording five goals. Carney, who was signed on Aug. 8, was most recently with Uzbekistan’s FC Bunyodkor and started his career with English side Everton, where he competed in academy and reserve sides. In 2005, Carney joined A-League club, Sydney FC and helped his side qualify for the Club World Championship. It was in 2006 when Carney earned his first call-up to the Australian National Team. Carney made a total of 33 appearances and tallied seven goals for Sydney FC. In August 2007, Carney signed with England’s Sheffield United, where he played until 2009. He also had a loan stint at Norwich City in 2009 and later in the year, moved to Dutch First Division side, FC Twente, helping his team win the Dutch League title for the first time in club history. Carney also played for England’s Blackpool (2010-11) and Spain’s AD Alcorcon (2011-12) before joining Bunyodkor. As a teammate of current Red Bull Tim Cahill, Carney has earned 46 caps for Australia and scored six goals. He was part of the Socceroos’ 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2007 and 2011 Asian Cup squads. RED BULLS-UNION HOSTS THIRD SELLOUT The Red Bulls-Philadelphia Union match on Aug. 17 was the third sellout of the season at Red Bull Arena this year. The 25,483 attendance announced at the sold out Red Bulls-Dynamo game on June 23 was the highest mark in club history since Red Bull Arena opened in March 2010. New York-LA Galaxy on May 19 was the first sellout of the year (25,219). New York is 8-2-3 at home in 2013. KNOCKING THEM OFF In the Red Bulls’ four-game unbeaten run (3-0-1) that ended Aug. 10 at Columbus, they have defeated three then first place teams – the Montreal Impact on July 13 (4-0), Real Salt Lake on July 27 (4-3) and Sporting Kansas City (3-2). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, New York’s win over Sporting Kansas City was its first victory on the road over a team in sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference since its 1-0 victory over the Columbus Crew on April 26, 2003.
SEKAGYA MAKES DEBUT, HELPS IN WIN Red Bull Ibrahim Sekagya, who signed on July 11, made his debut for New York Aug. 3, playing central midfield and the full 90 minutes in his team’s 3-2 win. Sekagya was suspended for New York’s match against Houston on Sunday following his red card against D.C. United on Aug. 31. Featuring mainly as a center back, Sekagya was previously with Red Bull Salzburg of the Austrian Bundesliga from 2007 to the conclusion of the club’s most recent campaign, playing in a total of 165 games and scoring six goals. Sekagya was part of the Red Bull Salzburg squad that won the Austrian Bundesliga title three times (2008-09, 2009-10 and 2011-12), League Cup once (2012) and served as captain during parts of his tenure. He began his professional career in Uganda and then went to Argentina in 2001, playing with Atletico de Rafela. The 32-year-old also enjoyed stints at Ferro Carril Oeste (2002-05) and Argentina first division squad, Arsenal de Sarandi (2005-07). Sekagya was a member of the Ugandan National Team and was part of the side’s 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaigns. He earned 26 caps, scoring three goals and was captain for his country until he retired from international soccer. LATE GAME HEROICS Red Bulls midfielder Dax McCarty’s third goal of the year – a 94th minute header to lead New York to a 4-3 win over Real Salt Lake on July 27 – was not the first time New York has seen late game heroics from one of its players. The Red Bulls have had six game winning goals and two game-tying goals after the 80th minute (forward Fabian Espindola had recorded a game-tying goal in the RSL game). New York has scored 15 goals after the 75th minute. HENRY CAPTAINS MLS ALL-STARS New York forward Thierry Henry was named captain of the MLS AllStar team and played 57 minutes in their 3-1 loss to Italian side, AS Roma, July 31 at Sporting Park. Henry was voted onto the MLS Fan XI and earned his third-straight selection to the All-Star team. Red Bulls midfielder Tim Cahill was also named to the 2013 MLS AllStar Game’s 20-man gameday roster, earning his first-ever selection to the team as a Commissioner’s Pick. However, Cahill missed the match due to a PCL tear in his right knee and was replaced by Philadelphia’s Jack McInerney in the squad. IRON MEN Currently, goalkeeper Luis Robles and midfielder Eric Alexander are the only Red Bulls to have featured in every MLS game this season. In addition, Robles is the only player to have started each of the 28 matches New York has competed in. BULLS ON PARADE The Red Bulls earned their first seven-game unbeaten run (5-0-2) for only the third time in club history and first time in 10 years before the streak was snapped in the team’s last match against Vancouver on June 1 – a 2-1 defeat. The last time this occurred was from April 19, 2003 to May 31, 2003 when New York went 5-0-2. It was the first time that the Red Bulls has not lost in six consecutive matches from April 28, 2012 to May 23, 2012. Prior to the Vancouver result, New York’s last loss was on April 17 – a 1-0 home defeat to Sporting Kansas City. In addition, after failing to win in their first four away games, New York had gone unbeaten in four road matches (3-0-1) before falling to Philadelphia last Sunday. Their record away from Red Bull Arena is 3-42. The Red Bulls are 4-2-2 at home. The other time that New York had an unbeaten streak that was seven games or longer was when it went nine matches without a defeat from June 17, 2000 to July 22, 2000 (7-0-2).