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Red Bulls end drought, blank Real Salt Lake

Apr 19, 2009 - 3:06 AM By Jim Hague Stats MLS Correspondent

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (AP) -- Macoumba Kanji just knew that it was only a matter of time before the New York Red Bulls would finally break through and score a goal.

"Someone asked me before the game and I said that I had a good feeling that we were going to start scoring," said Kanji, who ended New York's longest scoring drought in franchise history with a goal in the second minute and added an assist as the Red Bulls defeated Real Salt Lake 2-0 at Giants Stadium on Saturday night.

"I knew once we started to get going, we were going to get a lot of them," Kanji said. "We all talked about getting the first goal tonight and then have a celebration to get the fans going."

The Red Bulls (1-2-2) had scored only one goal in their first four matches, but that came via an own goal in a 1-1 tie against New England in their home opener March 28.

But on Saturday night, Kanji knocked home a crossing attempt from Dane Richards that was initially stopped by keeper Nick Rimando just 1:35 into the game. He later assisted on Juan Pablo Angel's first goal of the season in the 57th minute, pushing the lead to 2-0.

Angel scored 33 goals in his first two seasons with the Red Bulls.

"I wasn't really concerned with the lack of scoring," Angel said. "I've been saying all along that we're confident that we're moving in the right direction. We just didn't get lucky enough to score. It was just a matter of time before we got going. It was important to get that early goal."

The victory enabled the Red Bulls to continue their domination over Real Salt Lake, improving to 4-0-6 lifetime, including a 1-0 victory in last year's MLS Western Conference finals. RSL dropped to 2-2 on the season.

Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio was overjoyed with his team's performance.

"We showed signs tonight of being a good team," Osorio said. "The first goal was huge. I spoke to them during the week about getting out and scoring. I didn't want to put too much pressure on the strikers. Mac and Juan Pablo played well together and the more they play together, the more difficult it will be to pick them up and stop them. They were terrific."

Goalkeeper Jon Conway, who was suspended for 10 games last season for using performance-enhancing drugs, returned to action in goal for the Red Bulls and made four saves to record the shutout, the 22nd of his career. Conway was not seriously challenged for the entire match.

Red Bulls defender Kevin Goldthwaite made the defensive play of the match in the 50th minute, when he sprinted back to an unattended goal to perfectly time a scoring attempt from Yura Movsisyan, getting his left foot on the shot right before it crossed the goal line.

New York played the final 23 minutes with 10 men after defender Jeremy Hall received a red card ejection for a hard foul in the 67th minute.

Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis was upset with his team's performance.

"It's pretty simple," Kreis said. "We let them score a goal in the first few minutes and that always is going to take you out of your game plan. It was a bad play and we didn't respond well. You can't give up a goal that way. I thought we were more aggressive in the second half and had more chances, but I'm disappointed with the result."

The announced attendance of 8,508 was the smallest home crowd for the Red Bulls since drawing 7,802 against Colorado in a driving rain storm on May 13, 2007. Saturday night's weather conditions were listed as partly cloudy and 75 degrees at game time.