Lewis Morgan (left) and Gerhard Struber celebrate the Red Bulls’ win. (Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports)
By Michael Lewis
FrontRowSoccer.com Editor
Red Bulls head coach Gerhard Struber hailed his team’s 1-0 win at CF Montreal on Wednesday night.
“Great teamwork against a massive opponent in this league,” he said. “I’m very proud of my boys for the win again on the road, but much more how we create the win in our world of football with our principles. It makes me very proud.”
Then again, who could have blamed him.
The Red Bulls did just about everything right for a team playing on the road at Stade Saputo in Montreal. They struck first and defended well.
Goalkeeper Carlos Coronel rediscovered the form he had displayed earlier in the season as the team shutout Montreal, which is in second place in the MLS Eastern Conference.
He accomplished that feat with a reconstituted backline due to suspensions and the coach’s decision to sit team captain and center back Aaron Long.
Left back John Tolkin (yellow card accumulation) and right back Kyle Duncan (red card) sat this one out. Dylan Nealis and Cameron Harper started at left and right back, respectively, with Sean Nealis and Andres Reyes in the middle.
“This is a very good sign that we can create also with different players in a different setup a strong starting 11,” Struber said. “Also, the subs today were on a very good level. This means in the end that we are ready for more and I think it makes us very competitive. This also makes the competition very high, which player create for the next game, his starting position. I think a very good situation right now for me and for my whole team.”
Sean Nealis praised the team’s defensive depth.
“We’re not just 11 guys deep we’re 20-plus and it showed tonight,” he said. “A lot of guys played well – Cam [Harper], Dylan [Nealis], they held their own tonight and even more so they helped us generate three points. Lot of fresh legs for these three game weeks and it was good to go out there and get three points.”
The Red Bulls snapped an incredible 10-game winless streak in the Canadian city, dating back more than a decade – a 2-1 win on May 19, 2012. The Montreal coach at the time? Jesse Marsch, who wound up guiding the Red Bulls for several years and who is now directing Leeds United in the English Premier League.
“It was great to get three points on the road,” Sean Nealis said. “Lot of guys stepped up tonight, we had some injuries, some red cards and had guys given an opportunity tonight they stepped up tremendously. It’s an honor to go out and get three points here for the first time in almost 10 years. It feels great.”
In fact, the Red Bulls ended another streak – Montreal’s eight-game unbeaten surge.
“It was a big one for the Eastern Conference standings,” Sean Nealis said. “We got to keep going, we got an even bigger one on Saturday against Philadelphia. They’ve been on a roll, and we got to try and limit them on Saturday.”
