Red Bulls defender Wilman Conde stung a half volley from 28 yards in the 88th minute against D.C. United last night, lifting his team to a critical 2-2 draw on the road and bailing out his goalkeeper, Bill Gaudette, who let in two soft goals earlier in the game.
Check out Conde’s laser here:
That strike papered over two howlers by Gaudette that allowed D.C. to take a 2-1 lead into the final moments. In the 21st minute, the journeyman keeper let Nick DeLeon’s soft flick-on slip through his hands to tie the score at 1-1, and midway through the second half, he made an ill-advised charge to the top of the box in an attempt to claim a D.C. long ball, leaving his goal wide open when Dwayne De Rosario beat him to the pass.
Gaudette made an almost identical mistake against Sporting Kansas City last week, allowing Kei Kamara to nod in KC’s goal in that 1-1 draw.
Complete highlights from RFK here:
In Gaudette’s defense, he’s been, for the most part, very good since coming over from LA in mid-July, and his defense has let him down on many occasions. (Markus Holgersson was also to blame on D.C.’s first goal—arguably on their second too). On August 19, Gaudette bailed out his teammates with three spectacular saves against Portland, enabling RBNY to complete a 3-2, come-from-behind victory. So they owed him one.
But the Red Bulls need to sort out their goalkeeping—a bugaboo for the team since Red Bull took over in 2006—and their defense in general to have any shot at the MLS Cup this season.
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