Alejandro Romero “Kaku” Gamarra scored his first MLS goal 12 minutes after halftime to put the New York Red Bulls ahead for good in a 3-1 home victory over the Montreal Impact on Saturday afternoon.
Bradley Wright-Phillips added his fourth goal of the season for New York early in the encounter, then set up Kaku’s winner after reaching the rebound of his own attempt denied by Evan Bush. Wright-Phillips now has six goals in 10 league matches against the Impact and 90 for his MLS career.
Michael Murillo touched Kemar Lawrence‘s service into an open goal late on to seal a morale-boosting for the Red Bulls only four days after exiting the Concacaf Champions League following an excruciating 1-0 semifinal aggregate loss to CD Guadalajara.
Spoiler alert: The Red Bulls are gonna be fine. #NYvMTL
— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) April 14, 2018
Montreal’s Jeisson Vargas hit the net for the third time this season on a gorgeous free kick as the Impact enjoyed a promising stretch late in the first half. But the the match ended with Montreal’s second straight defeat after trailing 10-3 in efforts on target and conceding 57 percent of the possession.
Goals
- 5′ – RBNY – Bradley Wright-Phillips Watch
- 30′ – MTL – Jeisson Vargas Watch
- 57′ – RBNY – Alejandro Romero Gamarra Watch
- 76′ – RBNY – Michael Murillo Watch
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: Although the Red Bulls began the day ahead of the Impact in the table, New York probably needed the result more from a psychologicial perspective after their CCL disappointment. If you needed proof of that, you could look at Jesse Marsch’s starting XI; He made only one change from Tuesday night, inserting Kaku for Derrick Etienne.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: While the 20-year-old Vargas could be more consistent in front of goal, his talent is already becoming clear. And months from now when they put the highlight reel of his first MLS season, they won’t remember that this one finished a 3-1 loss. They’ll only see the inch-perfect free kick that skimmed off the right post on its way into the net.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: In a game where motivation had to be difficult following the Red Bulls’ CCL exit, Wright-Phillips showed what it means to be a true professional, scoring early before setting up Kaku’s winner. He should’ve had a second assist, only for Daniel Royer to blast his service off the top edge of the crossbar a few minutes before halftime.
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