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Earthquakes-Red Bulls Preview

Aug 27, 2010 - 8:46 PM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

San Jose (8-6-5) at New York (10-7-4), 7:30 p.m. EDT

The New York Red Bulls didn't waste any time bouncing back from a difficult home loss, recording a dominating victory on the road in their next game to stay near the top of the Eastern Conference.

The Red Bulls will try to get back on track at home when they meet the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night.

New York (10-7-4) is six points behind conference-leading Columbus and has a good chance to make a move in the standings with five of its final nine games coming at home, where it is 6-3-1.

New York, however, lost 1-0 to MLS-leading Los Angeles in its last game at Red Bull Arena on Aug. 14. The club did bounce back last Saturday, scoring its most goals of the season in a 4-1 win that ended Toronto's 17-game home unbeaten streak.

Newly acquired Rafael Marquez scored his first goal with New York, and Juan Pablo Angel and Carl Robinson also found the back of the net. Angel notched his 12th goal of the season, leaving him one behind the Galaxy's Edson Buddle for the league lead.

"I don't want to say statement game, but it says something about our team to come in here and win 4-1," defender Chris Albright told the league's official website. "And we feel we should have had a clean sheet."

The Red Bulls have given up one goal in their last four home games and have four shutouts there this season. They lost 4-0 at San Jose on May 8.

"We still have a tough road ahead of us," Albright said. "We have San Jose this Saturday, and Salt Lake a couple times and I think they're as good as any team in the league right now. ... I don't think we're there quite yet."

The Earthquakes (8-6-5) are looking to win a season-high third straight after a pair of 1-0 home victories. They defeated Los Angeles last Saturday as Chris Wondolowski scored in the fourth minute and Jon Busch made seven saves.

Busch returned to the starting role after being benched the previous game because Joe Cannon suffered a broken ankle last week.

He did not start against New York in May, and the Earthquakes know it won't be easy to shut out the Red Bulls again given that they have since added stars Thierry Henry and Marquez to provide a threat alongside Angel.

"It's a three-headed monster if you will," Busch said. "You've got three quality players and it's a big test for us. We're excited to see what we can do against them."

The Earthquakes have been outscored 6-1 in losing their last two road games against the Red Bulls.