Cory Burke scored the tiebreaking goal in the 38th minute as the New York Red Bulls remained unbeaten under new coach Troy Lesesne with a 2-1 victory over visiting Montreal CF Saturday night in Harrison, N.J.
The Red Bulls (3-4-7, 16 points) improved to 2-0-1 in MLS competition since Lesesne took over for Gerhard Struber following a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union on May 6 in the final game of a seven-game winless skid (0-3-4). After settling for a 0-0 draw at Toronto FC Wednesday, New York scored more than one goal for the first time since March 18 and second time overall.
Andres Reyes also scored for the Red Bulls after sitting out Wednesday’s contest due to a suspension for yellow card accumulation.
Joel Waterman scored for Montreal (5-8-0, 15 points), which dropped its second straight following four straight 2-0 wins.
New York’s Dante Vanzeir returned after serving a six-game suspension for a racial comment on April 8 against San Jose. He returned after teammates unanimously voted to allow him to come back and entered the game as a substitute for Burke in the 67th.
New York’s Carlos Coronel made one save.
Montreal’s Jonathan Sirois stopped four shots as the Red Bulls attempted 16 shots.
New York took the game’s first seven shots and went ahead in the 23rd when Reyes hung around the center of the box following a corner kick by John Tolkin. Reyes quickly gained possession when Tolkin’s corner kick caromed off a defender and sent a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner.
After Sirois made a leaping save on Cristian Casseres Jr. in the 27th, Montreal tied the game when Waterman tipped in George Campbell’s header after the ball went through the box.
Burke snapped the tie by softly moving the ball into an open net after getting a pass from Casseres. He moved around Montreal defender Aaron Herrera and tucked the ball into the middle of the net.
The goal was reviewed for a possible offsides and replays showed Burke’s right shoulder may have been offsides. After referee Drew Fisher went to the video review, he deemed the goal was good and Burke celebrated his second goal of the season.
–Field Level Media
