EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP)—Juan Pablo Angel scored a goal and added two assists in his second Major League Soccer game to lead the undermanned New York Red Bulls to a 4-0 win over the Columbus Crew on Saturday night.
John Wolyniec added a goal and assist for the Red Bulls (4-1-2), who are tied with New England for first place in the Eastern Conference.
“We showed that we really wanted to win this time,” Angel said. “We showed more character and we knew we couldn’t let ourselves down. I think I wanted some revenge for the way I played last game. It was a good performance overall.”
Andy Gruenebaum had two saves for Columbus (1-2-4), which failed to capitalize on several scoring opportunities.
Angel, a 31-year-old from Colombia who starred for Aston Villa in the English Premier League before signing with the Red Bulls last month as a designated player, scored off a steal in the 61st minute. He took an errant pass from Crew defender Marcos Gonzalez and beat a sprawling Gruenebaum.
“I had a couple of chances to score early on, but I missed on the chances when I got the ball,” Angel said. “I knew that I was going to get another chance at some point and when I got the chance, I certainly didn’t want to miss it.”
Wolyniec scored in the 17th minute for the only goal of the first half, but the Red Bulls took command with three goals in the second half.
Clint Mathis made it 2-0 with a goal in the 51st minute, After Angel’s goal, rookie Sal Caccavale got his first goal in the closing seconds of stoppage time.
Jon Conway, starting in place of the injured Ronald Wattereus for the second straight game, had eight saves for his first shutout this season and 11th of his career.
The Red Bulls played without captain Claudio Reyna, who sat out with a groin strain, while Wattereus and starting defenseman Hunter Freeman both missed the game with ankle sprains. And 17-year-old forward Jozy Altidore was allowed to miss the game so he could attend his high school senior prom.