Bradley: Red Bulls must find clinical edge to climb MLS standings

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Michael Bradley urged his New York Red Bulls team to quickly rediscover their clinical edge when Orlando City SC visit Sports Illustrated Stadium this weekend. 

The Red Bulls come into the clash on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Charlotte FC last time out, a match they created more than enough chances to get themselves a result. 

Bradley’s side finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.3 from their 24 shots compared to Charlotte’s tally of 0.6 xG from four attempts at Ethan Horvath’s net. 

It has been a familiar story for the Red Bulls this season, having underperformed their season xG of 29.1, having only managed to score 26 goals in league play so far. 

They are, however, eighth in the Eastern Conference standings, though Bradley warned that a continuation of this trend could come back to haunt them later in the campaign. 

“We missed the last pass, the last cross, the last shot and the last dribble,” Bradley said of his team’s defeat to Charlotte. 

“We got into really good spots, but we weren’t quite able to find the decisive bit of quality, speed or execution. That’s certainly something we have to continue working on.

“It’s frustrating because it ultimately counts for nothing in terms of points or anything tangible. We pushed hard in terms of really trying to play on the edge. 

“In large stretches of the game, we did a lot of good things, but we couldn’t reward ourselves. I think if we could have got it back to 2-1, we could have built on that momentum.”

Orlando, meanwhile, followed up their impressive 4-0 win over the Western Conference high-flyers San Jose Earthquakes by beating another tough opposition in Nashville SC. 

Tyrese Spicer scored the only goal for the Lions to move them up to 10th in the East, with their upturn in form coinciding with Antoine Griezmann’s arrival at the club. 

Orlando’s clash with New York comes before a stretch of three consecutive home games in MLS, with FC Cincinnati, Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake the visitors to Inter.co Stadium. 

Interim Orlando boss Martin Perelman was thrilled to continue his team’s recent run, and acknowledged the importance of their home support for their upcoming matches. 

“Very happy for everyone here at the club. I think this was a really good victory against a very difficult opponent,” Perelman said.

“Highlight the effort of our players and highlight the support of our people. They brought amazing energy to the stadium; they filled the stadium.

“It was a really good night. We really enjoyed it.”

New York Red Bulls – Emil Forsberg

Despite not getting on the scoresheet against Charlotte, Forsberg impressed with his team. He finished with joint-team-high totals for shots (five) and shots on target (two). 

He has also created more chances (29) than any other NYRB player in the MLS this season, and he will be key to his team’s chances of success at Sports Illustrated Stadium. 

Spicer came off the bench to score the lone goal in Orlando City’s win over Nashville, netting his third goal as a substitute this season. 

Only FC Cincinnati’s Tom Barlow (four) has scored more from the bench. Four of Spicer’s eight career MLS goals have been when he has been a substitute.

MATCH PREDICTION: NEW YORK RED BULLS WIN

NYRB are unbeaten in six straight matches against Orlando City in all competitions (W3 D3), including a 20-1 victory on February 26. This is their longest unbeaten run against this weekend’s opponents in all competitions, having never gone more than four straight against the Lions without defeat before.

However, NYRB have managed just three wins in their last 11 regular-season home matches (D3 L6) dating back to last August, including a 2-0 defeat to Charlotte on Saturday. The only team with fewer home wins in league play over that time is Atlanta United (two).

Orlando, meanwhile, have won back-to-back regular-season matches for the first time since winning four straight between July and August last year. The Lions kept clean sheets in both of those matches after allowing a goal in their previous 31 regular-season matches dating back to last season.

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