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<H1>Red Bulls not about to give up vs. D.C.</H1><H6></H6><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD width=335><DIV class=byline>ByDylan Butler/MLSnet.com Staff</DIV></TD><TD align=right width=155><DIV class=storyTixAd></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><DIV class=storyBody>E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- There's no doubt D.C. United are in the driver's seat in the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series after a 1-0 win at Giants Stadium on Saturday afternoon. But while his team's odds have gotten substantially longer following the loss, New York Red Bulls midfielder Dema Kovalenko isn't about to give up hope.
"They're not that good, they are an OK team," Kovalenko said of his former team. "They can be beaten. I'm not saying that because I'm mad or frustrated."
It's not impossible, but it sure won't be easy for the Red Bulls to win in the second leg at RFK Stadium next Sunday (6 p.m., ESPN2). D.C. has lost just three times during the regular season at home while the Red Bulls have won once on the road.
"It's not that easy for us to go there, but it won't be that easy for them," Kovalenko said. "We are going to give them hell there. We are going to give them everything. It's not over."
It's a lot closer to over, though, after Christian Gomez snuck in a goal in the 77th minute on one of United's few scoring chances. On a give-and-go with Jaime Moreno, Gomez split defender Carlos Mendes and midfielder Amado Guevara and chipped the ball over Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway from 12 yards out.
"The goal on their part, I could write the script on that," New York head coach Bruce Arena said. "That is how they are going to score. It's going to be a combination of Moreno and Gomez. That's the difference in this game; you have to make the plays that count."
And the Red Bulls did not. They were tentative on the attack in the first half, with the few ventures forward coming from combinations between Kovalenko and Todd Dunivant down the left flank.
But when the best scoring chance comes off the head of a defender, which was the case in the first minute of stoppage time, when Jeff Parke headed Youri Djorkaeff's free kick off the crossbar, that's not necessarily a good sign.
"It's a good ball in by Youri; it would have been nice to get it come down a little more," Parke said. "I just got a little unlucky, it kind of sums up the day with us."
Added Dunivant: "I think we were too cautious. We were going into the wind and for whatever reason we weren't creating good chances and combining very well. I don't think our movement off the ball was good enough and we left a lot of guys stranded on the ball."
The attack was better after halftime, but the Red Bulls didn't have many chances against a D.C. defense that leaked in goals at the end of the regular season. In the 72nd minute, Kovalenko found Dunivant, who burst into the box but his attempt missed the far post.
Gomez picked up the game's first yellow card, pulling down Markus Schopp in the 73rd minute. But Djorkaeff's free kick was well wide to Troy Perkins' right. Perkins, the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, made just three saves to earn the clean sheet in his first career playoff start.
"I'm very disappointed because I thought we had a great chance to win the game today and we made one mistake in the defense," Schopp said. "D.C. is a very good team and they took their one chance and made it 1-0."
Djorkaeff's best chances came on wasted free kicks and Guevara was essentially a pedestrian and showed his frustration in the second minute of stoppage time with a tackle from behind on Moreno, drawing the ire of both head coach Peter Nowak and midfielder Ben Olsen.
"We had a couple of words together but this is the playoffs and everyone knows there's a lot of emotions and especially for them, the result wasn't great so this is normal stuff," Nowak said.
Now all the Red Bulls have to do is go to D.C. and beat United
"They're not that good, they are an OK team," Kovalenko said of his former team. "They can be beaten. I'm not saying that because I'm mad or frustrated."
It's not impossible, but it sure won't be easy for the Red Bulls to win in the second leg at RFK Stadium next Sunday (6 p.m., ESPN2). D.C. has lost just three times during the regular season at home while the Red Bulls have won once on the road.
"It's not that easy for us to go there, but it won't be that easy for them," Kovalenko said. "We are going to give them hell there. We are going to give them everything. It's not over."
It's a lot closer to over, though, after Christian Gomez snuck in a goal in the 77th minute on one of United's few scoring chances. On a give-and-go with Jaime Moreno, Gomez split defender Carlos Mendes and midfielder Amado Guevara and chipped the ball over Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway from 12 yards out.
"The goal on their part, I could write the script on that," New York head coach Bruce Arena said. "That is how they are going to score. It's going to be a combination of Moreno and Gomez. That's the difference in this game; you have to make the plays that count."
And the Red Bulls did not. They were tentative on the attack in the first half, with the few ventures forward coming from combinations between Kovalenko and Todd Dunivant down the left flank.
But when the best scoring chance comes off the head of a defender, which was the case in the first minute of stoppage time, when Jeff Parke headed Youri Djorkaeff's free kick off the crossbar, that's not necessarily a good sign.
"It's a good ball in by Youri; it would have been nice to get it come down a little more," Parke said. "I just got a little unlucky, it kind of sums up the day with us."
Added Dunivant: "I think we were too cautious. We were going into the wind and for whatever reason we weren't creating good chances and combining very well. I don't think our movement off the ball was good enough and we left a lot of guys stranded on the ball."
The attack was better after halftime, but the Red Bulls didn't have many chances against a D.C. defense that leaked in goals at the end of the regular season. In the 72nd minute, Kovalenko found Dunivant, who burst into the box but his attempt missed the far post.
Gomez picked up the game's first yellow card, pulling down Markus Schopp in the 73rd minute. But Djorkaeff's free kick was well wide to Troy Perkins' right. Perkins, the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, made just three saves to earn the clean sheet in his first career playoff start.
"I'm very disappointed because I thought we had a great chance to win the game today and we made one mistake in the defense," Schopp said. "D.C. is a very good team and they took their one chance and made it 1-0."
Djorkaeff's best chances came on wasted free kicks and Guevara was essentially a pedestrian and showed his frustration in the second minute of stoppage time with a tackle from behind on Moreno, drawing the ire of both head coach Peter Nowak and midfielder Ben Olsen.
"We had a couple of words together but this is the playoffs and everyone knows there's a lot of emotions and especially for them, the result wasn't great so this is normal stuff," Nowak said.
Now all the Red Bulls have to do is go to D.C. and beat United
- T.K.
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