De Rosario haunts Red Bulls in Arena Return

Dwayne De Rosario was the hero for DC but the villain for NY as he scored the only goal of the match at Red Bull Arena. The Red Bulls traded him to DC for Dax McCarty less than 2 weeks ago to open up cap space. Rosario makes $495,000 a year opposed to McCarty who makes under $200,000.

This was the first match played between the two after the trade and DC certainly got their money’s worth as their new number 7 scored the game winner. This makes the trade seem like a bad idea. De Ro had started every single game for NY this season and had been doing very well. Out of nowhere they decide to trade him to DC. McCarty is a solid player but De Ro gets the job done as he proved to do so tonight.

The Red Bulls had a full squad tonight with Henry, Agudelo, Ream, and Rodgers all participating but the missing link was defensive midfielder and Mexico captain Rafa Marquez. His presence has sorely been missed as his defensive ability allows the players around him to form a solid back line behind him. His return to the field is anticipated by all of us.

The Red Bulls defeated Toronto F.C. 5-0 just three days ago at the Arena in a game where they brought back their menacing passing game. Tonight it was nowhere to be found as their attack looked way too hopeful as opposed to being skillful. They need to play tougher defense and even better offense during their next game in order to be as effective as they really could be.

De Rosario was their free kick/penalty kick specialist. Now that he’s gone the job has been given to young Dax McCarty. He is a defensive minded player who is talented and has the qualities of a captain as he had captained DC United in 10 of his 13 matches for them. He is solid but De Ro’s offensive ability has been and will continue to be missed by NY.

Teams lose good players all the time and after their 5-0 victory over Toronto, the future looked bright until tonight. However this could just be an unfortunate bump on the road as NY will certainly bounce back from this slight defeat sooner than later. Their next match will be in the US open Cup on Tuesday night in Chicago as they play the Fire. The last they met in Chicago the game ended in a 1-1 draw with goals by Joel Lindpere (NY) and Marco Pappa (Chicago. The game will be tightly contested as both sides have an idea of how the other plays.

Next Saturday they will play away to CD Chivas USA as they will look to avenge their 3-2 home loss at the arena. The Red Bulls have their work cut out for them but cannot let fatigue continue to be a factor. They will need to play hard and smart and gain a good victory whether it’s by 1 or 5 goals. After tonight, they will come out strong on Tuesday as well as Saturday.