After suffering from a strained calf, Rafa Marquez finally made his first start in exactly two months tonight. And, just in case he’d been gone so long that fans forgot just what he can bring to the Red Bulls – when he’s healthy and motivated – the Mexican star provided a high-class reminder in a 3-1 win over Columbus.
Marquez not only helped settle the midfield and maintain possession, but his return allowed the Red Bulls to attack the Crew’s high line and back four right over the top. And he drove that point home with his 9th-minute assist on Thierry Henry’s goal, the equalizer in a come-from-behind victory.
“I mean he is precise. When you give him time and space, definitely he can be very precise and turn, or if it’s cross the final pass, whatever,’’ said coach Hans Backe. “I said, calm down and commence your own build up, your attacking game, you don’t get too hectic. So 60 minutes was perfect for him tonight.’’
Marquez hadn’t started since July 15, when he was forced out of the match against Seattle after 20 minutes with a left calf injury. He hadn’t played at all since a four-minute cameo Aug. 10 against Houston, eventually going to Mexico for rehab that had fans raising their eyebrows. But they’ll surely take the end result.
“You could see at the end he was obviously out of rhythm; but you also saw what he can do,’’ said Henry. “When Rafa plays, I have another option. I can move behind the defense, and you saw it tonight.
“How many times you saw me dropping tonight? None. How many times you saw me going behind the defense? Every single time. It’s another dimension for me when Rafa plays; he has that game. Therefore for me, it’s a bit better and you saw it on the goal. But you know exactly where I stand on Rafa.’’
Marquez played a sublime ball over the top, finding Henry in the penalty area. The French star beat Chad Marshall, took a touch and scored. Marquez had already played one ball over the top, and continuously found Henry or Kenny Cooper that way for the rest of the night, forcing Columbus to respect it.
“I said we needed to test the back four, we need to play behind them,’’ said Backe. “If we play in front of them, they are strong, they are good 50-50 guys, big boys, force them to turn and they will probably have a team that is stretched. Hopefully that could open up some space in front of the back four and midfield.
“I think we had four or five very precise passes over the top, and it always makes the backs a little bit uncomfortable when you know you have runners behind, when you need to cover the space behind, you need to drop. For 90 minutes we tested the back four over the top.’’
After questions about how Marquez would fit back into the lineup, how many minutes could he play and would he play centerback or central midfield, Backe’s moves turned out to be golden.
Marquez lined up next to Tim Cahill in central midfield, with Dax McCarty pushed out wide right. Marquez’ presence made Henry even more dangerous, evidenced by his brace and assist, bringing him to 13 tallies and nine assists. The Red Bulls held 58.9 percent of the possession, and despite falling behind early for the fourth time in five games, rallied for a huge win.