BRADENTON, Fla. — Florian Valot, Daniel Royer and Tom Barlow scored goals as the Red Bulls recorded a 3-0 win over D.C. United in a pre-season scrimmage at IMG Academy on Saturday.
The game was broken into two 45-minute halves.
The Red Bulls completed their first leg of preseason. They will spend a week in New Jersey before heading out West for their second leg of preseason in Tucson, Ariz.
New York head coach Chris Armas liked what he saw.
“It is a really nice way to end the [first] two weeks [of preseason]” he said. “The guys have given everything everyday, the staff has given everything and the supporting. Everyone has contributed a lot and everyone behind the scenes and on the field. It means a lot and everyone can partake in a good performance and everyone feels a part of it.
“We thought that against the ball we were able to control things in many ways and when we had the ball you could say that our guys are having more ideas with some of the spacing and the areas that we want to attack. It was good to see and mostly seeing players play free and enjoying themselves out there with a real direction.”
Valot had another good performance.
“We knew that when we lost him last year that it was a big loss for us,” Armas said. “He brings a lot of intelligence and something different in that part of the field. He has an ease and elegance with the ball, but against the ball he still understands and commits to what we do.”
Kaku returned from injury and played.
“He has been asking for these minutes and he makes us different,” Armas said. “It is good to see him with the group everyday and he is all in. Around here, it is important to be all in because you must be all in and he has been excellent. He was itching to come back from the injury and he came right back with the team. His English is great and it is so nice to see him out there because he adds so much to the team.”
