RSL runs rampant in home opener; smashes Red Bulls in 2-0 victory

It's never good to be away from home for too long. Our home, our house: We returned last night with a sound and fury — signifying, unusually, something. We were as loud as we've been, as jubilant as we've been, and triumphant as we've been.

Wins like this — of the 2-0 variety, that is — aren't particularly uncommon. It is a nice but sometimes worrying scoreline, but it's one we never looked like backing down from. We could've scored more — oh, we could have, indeed — but that's of little consequence now.

It wasn't particularly that we were profligate in our scoring opportunities, though. It was more that New York defended well considering those involved are often slated. See, our scoring was down to particularly good play.

Fabian Espindola, Better than Donovan

In that first moment of glory — and it was certainly glorious — Fabian Espindola picked up a fantastically weighted pass by Paulo Jr. on a counter. Any concerns we might have about the suitability of those two together is perhaps valid, but we do certainly hold more weight on counter attacking play than we might normally. It was as much a team goal as a moment of Espindola ingenuity, though: Kyle Beckerman did well to pick out a hopeful cross into the box, Luis Gil looked up and picked out Paulo Jr., and that pass by Paulo — whoosh! That kid's got some talent. The awareness he had to pick out Fabian was never going to be in vain.

And, of course, Fabian did particularly well to finish the play, showing several sides to his play. First, the speed of feet: His ability to sprint beyond defenders while staying onside was on display tonight. A back line perhaps more experienced would have coped with him better, and perhaps a better linesman would have made some calls differently (that man was constantly out of position. It was almost shocking.) Second, the speed of thought: Ryan Meara tried to make himself big to have a chance of stopping a shot. Fabian took just an extra split-second, saw the opening, and passed the ball into the net under Meara's legs. It was a strike right from the pictures.

That sort of run is really Espindola's trademark. He took the ball on the left side of the pitch, beat the defenders, cut in, and beat the keeper defending his far post. Last week, he scored against Josh Saunders on the same run. Saunders, who had his legs closed to prevent the nutmeg, was beat with a brilliant far-post strike. This week, Espindola broke free, cut in, and beat Meara in the same run, but this time finding a different angle for the shot, given that the keeper had made himself bigger. How do you defend against a player that can score near post, far post, and under or over the keeper? The highlights slate Meara somewhat for that play, but I don't know what commentators expect him to do. Perhaps he should have come out of his box earlier, but I don't doubt that Fabian would have beat him that way, too.

These trademark goals (perhaps I should compile them!) are always exciting. I may get slated a bit for this, and I say it only because it's relevant to the match at hand, but Fabian Espindola's fine finishing sometimes reminds me of a mid-career Thierry Henry. Not the audacious finishes the former Arsenal man was noted for, but those cut-in, beat-the-keeper finishes. Those finishes are brilliant.

The thing about Fabian, though, is that people sometimes describe him as being too ponderous, too unwilling to "pull the trigger," if you will. With his goals, we rarely see that. Perhaps the concern is that he's often focused on maintaining possession instead of flinging balls hopefully into the box. He does sometimes lose the ball as a result, but I think his head's in the right place. We don't need strikers who want to take everything on themselves, and his desire to continue play rather than give up possession on a quarter-chance is encouraging.

Little Luisito, You Beauty!

Luis Gil, our resident dude-he's-only-18-er, scored last night with some good awareness leading the way. Let's rewind a bit and take a look at the run of play.

Sebastian Velasquez involved himself on the left side, getting in a couple 1-2s with Ned Grabavoy and Paulo Jr. It was the final pass with Paulo Jr. that made the play: Sebas laid it off to him on the left, burst into the box, and Paulo played a fine ball in to beat the defenders. Sebastian, aware as ever, moved forward, cut the ball to Espindola, who took perhaps too heavy a touch (but a very good one to get around his marking defender) but was able to get off a shot anyway. Said shot was parried well by Meara, but the rebound fell right to Luis Gil, who wasted no time in putting away a half-volley to give us a 2-0 lead.

It was good awareness from Luis Gil, who, rather than assuming Espindola would score on his shot, made sure he was in a position to capitalize on the rebound. The run of play was brilliant there: Velasquez found open space, Paulo Jr. found the right pass, Fabian found a good touch, and Luis put it away.

It Could Have Been More

I'd be remiss if I didn't make it clear that we could have won the game by three or four. Our swashbuckling play was rarely stifled, and we had some excellent chances. But for some last-ditch defending, Fabian Espindola could have had a hat trick. But for some last-ditch goalkeeping, Paulo could have won a penalty when he went through on goal.

About that: Some referees would have given a penalty for that without a doubt. Some would have waved play on and urged Paulo to get back up. This one? He blows the whistle, but not for a penalty. For a handball. Paulo was taken down along with the ball (without a high-def replay, I'm not prepared to say whether it was a penalty or not), and on his way down, his arm hit the ball. How does the referee solve that one? PEEEEP. Handball. Handball!? I fail to see how falling and having your arm hit the ball is deliberate. Ah, well. It hardly matters now.

Sebastian Velasquez, Headline of the Century

How long can this story continue? Sebastian Velasquez, a kid on the brink of losing his last big chance, was picked up in the draft out of junior college. (Were the draft not an option, I'm convinced we would have signed him somehow, but that's another story.) Then seen as a real project player and not somebody for the present, he didn't expect to see more than a few minutes on the pitch. But now he's started the first two matches of the season and played most of the match in both. What a kid.

He's done more than just play in matches, though. He's done well — very well — in the two he's been a part of. In fact, he's done well enough that I've named him my man of the match. Twice. He's crafted out two goals — one a Sean Franklin own goal, the other a Luis Gil shot off a Fabian Espindola rebound.

How long can his story continue at this pace? At some point, he'll go from being a kid who's finding his feet in the league to one with knowledge and understanding of the league. Yes, the two wins have come against two struggling teams, but that ignores the quality the Galaxy and the Red Bulls do have.

The thing about Sebastian Velasquez, for me, is that he keeps play moving. When two men bear down on him, he releases the ball to a well-placed teammate.  When he's got a chance to go forward, he does. When a teammate's in a better position to play a pass, he lays it off to them. It's one thing to be tricky and technical, which this kid clearly is. It's another entirely to be intelligent with that skill set. If he continues to perform like this through the season, Jason Kreis will have some selection troubles on his hands.

Check back tomorrow for more on this match, including a somewhat statistical breakdown of the win. I'll also touch on some parts I've skipped today, including our excellent defensive efforts. 'Til tomorrow!