~ By Pearl Allison Lo
~ New York is now first in the East, as their pristine record also included their second clean sheet of the season, with a 2-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes Friday.

The Red Bulls controlled the majority of play, sending 21 shots goalie David Bingham’s way.

The Quakes beat the top MLS team last week, but could not beat the second-best, as they found themselves on the other end of a shutout this time.

However, though San Jose lost, it could have been worse. Bradley Wright-Phillips and Lloyd Sam were held scoreless, though Wright-Phillips did have five shots.

It was the Quakes’ second goose egg in their last three games.

New York has scored at least two goals in all but their first game.

Their first goal started with San Jose possession. However, Cordell Cato’s pass went to Felipe instead of his intended target. Felipe and Wright-Phillips then passed the ball back and forth, until Wright-Phillips slid the ball in between Bingham and Victor Bernardez as he slid himself. Sacha Kljestan was found open at the far post, hitting the center of the net in the 29th minute.

Six minutes later, Sam crossed the ball perfectly to Mike Grella, who was in a similar position to Kljestan. Grella then punched the ball in quickly to score through the right side of the net to make it 2-0.

Though the Quakes’ Chris Wondolowski had to leave last game, he was able to play. He did not come on until the 56th minute though.

San Jose tried to make some last-minute magic.

In the 83rd minute, Emeghara had two shots in a row, as his first rebounded off Luis Robles.

Wondolowski’s attempt in the 84th minute was saved.
Talking about the Red Bulls, Wondolowski said, “”Especially in the first half, they do a great job of pressing and pressing high up the field and they took advantage of our two mistakes.”

Bingham added, “”We were making rookie mistakes all over the field. All of us were turning the ball over in the middle of the park…They got their chances and they finished them.”

Game notes: Emeghara returned from suspension for Adam Jahn, who went on suspension. Emeghara had three shots, two on goal. It was the first win for the Red Bulls in the last five games the two teams have played. Defenders Roy Miller (knee) and Ronald Zubar (hamstring) remained out of action. This past week, the Quakes kicked off Get Earthquakes Fit, which requires 20 minutes of daily physical activity for students in the program. Tommy Thompson was called to the U.S. U-20 National Team. San Jose next plays Real Salt Lake again on May 1 at 7pm.