I know what all of you are saying, another draw. It was another match where they should’ve had the full three points and put some distance between themselves and the clubs hunting for their fourth place position. While Orlando dropped back down to fifth with the loss at the Columbus Crew, NYCFC With a disastrous two match week getting blasted by the Philadelphia Union, and somehow they miraculously saved a point against Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami at Yankee Stadium, Charlotte FC has also climbed up the table to be three points behind the New York Red Bulls.
But this was a match not only for the Red Bulls to get a result, but for the striker department to come up big and put the ball into the back of the net. It also meant to continue the unbeaten streak against Atlanta United who still hasn’t converted the full three points at Red Bull Arena in all competitions, since entering the league. Dante Vanzeir who has been snakebit, jinxed, cursed, hexed, and anything else you can think of has had a bad 2024 season. It was only scoring two goals with plenty of assists to help his team earn results at Red Bull Arena or on the road. Well, this time he finally got his third and broke a twenty match goal-less streak in all competitions.
The corner was thwarted by the Atlanta defense as the ball looked to be rolling out over the end line for a corner kick, but John Tolkin found his way onside and retrieved the ball, with a quick pass to the middle of the area, and out of nowhere Vanzeir placed the ball perfectly toward the inside of the far post to end that horrible negative streak. He was mobbed by his teammates and you could see his facial expression, relieved he had found the back of the net. The hope is with four matches remaining, Vanzeir can get off on the right foot and take a goal scoring streak at the end of the regular season, and into the playoffs. Not only was that his third of the season, but his first goal at Red Bull Arena.
Of course, the penalty called against the Red Bulls and converted by Alexey Miranchuk leveled the match at one, then Elias Manoel getting a penalty through the help of VAR to correct the original decision as a foul against him in the area, was saved by Brad Guzan, all of a sudden saw Edwin Mosquera subbing into the match inside second half stoppage time and bending in a ball that took the air out of Red Bull Arena. That threatened the unbeaten streak against the Red Bulls, but once again this side has the belief that they are in every single match, no matter what the situation looks like. Also, it allowed Manoel to make amends for the missed penalty that he couldn’t convert earlier in the second half.
Noah Eile crossed the ball from the far side to the near, and Dylan Nealis leaped for it with a header pass across the face of the goal. Even though it was moved away by the defender, he didn’t see Julian Hall, who rushed quickly, made a split second decision to pass the ball to a waiting Manoel and he smashed it top shelf with three minutes remaining in second half stoppage time. Red Bull Arena went from a funeral to a celebration as they rescued a point, and moved back up to fourth place in the Eastern Conference Table. The Red Bulls need to stop dropping two points in most of their matches because they are good enough to get wins, but you can tell without Emil Forsberg, that extra oompf has not been there due to his foot injury.
At the same time, the striker position has been missing once again with the goal scoring department, and even when Lewis Morgan has been moved up from the midfield into a second starting striker, his goal scoring prowess has been a bit on the empty side since returning from Euro 2024 duty with Scotland. It’s still a concern, but when Forsberg returns, I would like to believe the goal scoring should be picking right back up as soon as possible and so will the wins. It’s crunch time and let’s hope they can finish this off the right way.