If You Play Them, They Will Score

Funny thing about strikers, they need to be on the field to score goals. Luckily for Red Bull fans, Bruce Arena took note on Saturday night and started two forwards -- Juan Pablo Angel and John Wolyniec -- along with attacking midfielder Clint Mathis and wingers Dave Van den Bergh and Dane Richards, and lo and behold our heroes recorded a thorough 4-nil victory over the slumping Columbus Crew.

With young stud Jozy Altidore on an excused absence to attend his Senior Prom in Florida, Staten Island's favorite son Woly got a rare start alongside the superstar Colombian and it paid immediate dividends, with Wolyniec bagging a goal and an assist and Angel setting up two scores before finding the back of the net himself off a horrendous Crew mistake.

Thus the Red Bull find themselves in second place in the East, trailing the Revs by three points, with a game in hand, despite injuries to captain Claudio Reyna, first-choice goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus and hard-working fullback Hunter Freeman. Seth Stammler filled in for Claudio Reyna as holding midfielder, and hardman Dema Kovalenko moved to the backline, allowing Woly to move up top with Angel and force the action on the opposition, as opposed to adopting a defensive (and often losing) 4-5-1 lineup.

DeGrandpre Memo to RBNY Season Ticketholders (Hat Tip to MLS Underground) includes updates on stadium construction, practice facility and free ticket giveaway for Thursday vs Chicago Fire, perhaps in response to lackluster attendance at Giants Stadium (h/t BigAppleSoccer).