by CHRISTIAN ARAOS

Staff Writer

Against one of the fastest teams in MLS, the New York Red Bulls unraveled as quickly as their opponents played on Saturday night, falling to the Vancouver Whitecaps 2–1 at Red Bull Arena.

A Sacha Kljestan red card and two missed penalties from Bradley Wright-Phillips assured the result, extending New York’s losing streak to four straight matches.

“Five games, one point, that’s not good enough, period,” Marsch said. “I have to take blame for that. I’m the manager here and there’s one guy now that has to take responsibility and that’s me. I will look hard at everything from what we’re doing tactically to what we’re doing selection wise.

“I have a lot of thinking to do about which guys deserve to be on the field.”

The Red Bulls were set to take an early lead when Sal Zizzo won a penalty in the fourth minute, but Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted dove to his right to parry Bradley Wright-Phillips’ spot kick. Seven minutes later, Sacha Kljestan was sent off for lashing out at Whitecaps centerback Kendall Waston. The Whitecaps did not wait long to capitalize on the man advantage with Kekuta Manneh scoring in the 15th minute.

Red Bull Head Coach Jesse Marsch labeled the team’s first half ‘a disaster’ in his halftime interview with MSG. Marsch added that Kljestan’s red card was foolish but not lethal to the Red Bulls’ chances.

Kljestan took full responsibility for his ejection and apologized to his teammates at halftime. After the match, he said Waston’s tugging and grabbing provoked him.

“Certainly the referee could have spoken to me. I made a stupid play,” Kljestan said. “My biggest criticism of the MLS is that the amount of grabbing and hugging and holding and fouling that goes on in the box and the referees do not protect the attacking players. It annoys me so much.

“In this moment, I just got so annoyed I threw my elbow up to get free of Waston bear-hugging me and it was a stupid play.”

The Red Bulls held off the Whitecaps for the remainder of the first half and started the second half strongly. Anatole Abang won a second penalty for the Red Bulls in the 63rd minute when Whitecaps defender Steven Beitashour grabbed Abang’s jersey as he leapt to meet a cross in front of goal.

Wright-Phillips held no reservations about taking the second penalty and chose to shoot down the middle, but again, Ousted stopped him. Wright-Phillips said he has never missed two penalties in a match before tonight.

“I was confident I would score but the keeper won the battle today,” Wright-Phillips said. “If I had scored that first penalty, it’s a different game. If I don’t miss these penalties, it’s a different game. I think in the second half with a man down, I felt like we dominated so this is a tough one to take, especially after missing two penalties.”

The Whitecaps doubled their lead in the 77th minute after Octavio Rivero intercepted a loose pass and fed Kianz Froese who slotted his effort passed Luis Robles and into the bottom corner for his first career MLS goal. Abang halved the deficit for the Red Bulls with a cooly taken volley five minutes later, but the Red Bulls would fail to find an equalizer.

The Red Bulls have lost their last four matches and are now level with three other teams in the Eastern Conference at 17 points. They host Real Salt Lake on Wednesday June 24 at 7:30 pm. If they lose that match, they will remain level with New York City FC on points heading into their second meeting on Sunday June 28.

Marsch said the team cannot continue to dwell on its run of catastrophes and losses.

“It certainly feels right now that things are going against us,” Marsch said. “But if you dwell on that, that’s being a loser. Quite honestly, if we start to feel sorry for ourselves, then we’re going to dig an even bigger hole.

“Right now, I’m not feeling sorry for myself. I’m ready for this challenge and we’re going to figure out a way to get out of it and it starts with me.”