and a first goal scored by one of their players.
• Just 14 minutes, the Red Bulls were given a massive advantage. Mac Kandji escaped defender Wilman Conde and headed alone toward goal, but John Thorrington tripped him up from behind, and referee Tim Weyland immediately showed a red card.
• But it was the Fire who scored the game's only goal in the 33rd minute. A high ball caught in the wind was half-cleared out the area, and Marco Pappa stepped up to send it back goalward with a low shot. The ball bounced off the inside of the left post and rolled across the goal, barely crossing the line for his first MLS goal.
• Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio made one change to the team that played to a 1-1 draw with the New England Revolution. Jorge Rojas returned from international duty and came into the attacking midfield slot in place of Sinisa Ubiparipovic.
• Here's Osorio's team (4-3-1-2): Danny Cepero - Jeremy Hall (Carlos Johnson 62), Carlos Mendes, Kevin Goldthwaite, Danleigh Borman - Dane Richards, Luke Sassano, Khano Smith (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 73) - Jorge Rojas - Macoumba Kandji (Dominic Oduro 20), Juan Pablo Angel. Substitutes Not Used: Alec Dufty, Mike Petke, Juan Pietravallo, John Wolyniec
• "I'm disappointed. I think throughout the 90 minutes we made the extra man count and created enough chances to tie or even win this game, but they only give points for goals scored and that's the reality," Osorio said. " ... They had two chances, one in the first half and they scored from it, and one in the 45th minute of the second half."
TEAM NEWS
• The Red Bulls have to get a goal from one of their own players. They've been shutout in two games, and the third, a 1-1 draw with New England, their lone goal was an own goal from Revolution defender Jay Heaps.
• "The result was a little bit frustrating, especially when you're up a man. They didn't have very many chances throughout the game; I think we had few more. We just have to put one of those away, there are no more excuses," said midfielder Luke Sassano. "We only have one point out of a possible nine. We have to put this game behind us and look forward to next week."
• For the second consecutive match, Mac Kandji started alongside Juan Pablo Angel in a twin-striker setup. However, Kandji was replaced by Dominic Oduro after the red card. Kandji is listed as questionable to start the week with a sprained ankle.
• "It was different," Angel said to Big Apple Soccer. "They are two different type of players. One of the things we thought was going to happen because of Dominic's speed, we were able to stretch the Chicago defense. It didn't happen the time he was in the game. One, we couldn't find him and he wasn't making the right movements. It's hard obviously not to come up into the game when you're not ready for it."
• Osorio will start to see the fruits of his offseason signings finally coming to bear. Costa Rican international fullback Carlos Johnson made his debut in Chicago, while Spanish defensive midfielder Albert Celades and El Salvador fullback Alfredo Pacheco are expected to join the team for this weekend's contest in Houston. Pacheco is still awaiting receipt of his international transfer certificate.
• As well, defensive midfielder Seth Stammler is also approaching full fitness, while goalkeeper Jon Conway will be available on April 18 after concluding his suspension for violating the league's Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health (SABH) policy.
• Goals were hard to come by for the Red Bulls over the first half of 2008 as well. The team did not score more than two goals in any game until August, and went for a stretch of nearly two months where they did not score multiple goals in any game, hitting for eight in a 10-game stretch May 17-July 10.
• "We're creating the chances," Angel said. "We haven't basically found the back of the net just yet. It happens sometimes in football. You create chances and you don't score and it starts to play with your confidence. But I'm sure as soon as we get to score the first goal, many more will come. I'm not very concerned about it.
