NY nabs first title as Red Bulls

The New York Red Bulls, playing in a rare Friday day game defeated Colorado on a PK by Amado Guevara. NY won the UMLSCC for the 15th time, the most of any club. It was thier first under Red Bull management and also thier first UMLSCC title since defeating KC in July of 2004. This win over Colorado stopped a 3 game losing and 5 game winless streak. The Red Bulls are bottom of the East with 17 points but are only 7 points out of 2nd place.

Also, the NY win marked the 7th consecutive win by the home side in UMLSCC competition. The current record for consecutive home wins is 8 and that was set back at the end of the 96 season into late April of 97. The title changed teams 4 times in that stretch with Tampa Bay winning 4 consecutive games. During this span of 7 games the title has changed 4 times already.

The Red Bulls start thier 15th title run on the road in Columbus on Wednesday the 19th...and lately that means a win for the home fans. At home in UMLSCC games the Crew are 12-8-3 and 4-5-2 as the home challenger. That is a fairly typical home challenger record with only 2 other teams not winning more home challenges than losing. NY on the other hand is atrocious on the road as Champion to the tune of 3-6-10, however they do only need a draw. But lately draws are rare and it's been 11 games since the UMLSCC has had a draw. This 11 game stretch is the 2nd longest in UMLSCC.

Columbus and NY have met 9 times with NY winning 4 and Columbus winning 3 along with 2 draws. The title has changed hands 5 times between the teams. This will be the 6th meeting in Columbus and the first since September of 2004 when Columbus retained the title on a 4-2 win. NY has lost the title in Columbus, won the title, and, the last time in C-bus as Chamption, retained the title on a 1-1 draw.

Also, prior to the game against the Crew, RBNY named Bruce Arena as the new Head Coach.