Red Bulls reach East final with narrow win over D.C. United
Any grand designs on a triumphant New York Red Bulls march toward the Eastern Conference final seeped away through the course of this miserable second leg. D.C. United clung to this tie until the bitter end despite its evident limitations. Those efforts left the outcome in doubt until Bradley Wright-Phillips scored in second-half stoppage time to secure a 1-0 victory on the day and a 2-0 win on aggregate.
Wright-Phillips retained his composure at the end to seal the Red Bulls’ place in the Eastern Conference final for a second consecutive season. His cool finish erased those lingering vulnerabilities at the last possible moment and reinforced the Red Bulls’ superiority in this gritty tie.
It proved a deserved result for the Red Bulls’ diligence and their superiority on the ball, though United made this second leg far more difficult than necessary for the hosts despite its blunt work in front of goal. New York now advances to face the winner of the other semifinal between Columbus Crew SC and Montréal Impact.
The hosts entered this second leg as heavy favorites with their 1-0 lead on aggregate after the first leg and nearly justified those claims inside the first two minutes. The corner kick pulled straight off the training ground involved a driven ball from the set piece and a run over the ball to create a yard of space for Grella. His resulting shot hit the bar as United found itself chasing until the bitter end.
Those principles endured even as the Red Bulls labored. New York dominated in possession without doing nearly enough with it. The inability to carve open United in the wide areas or construct proper supply lines to Bradley Wright-Phillips led to a laborious period and paved the way for United to threaten on the counter.
Most of the Red Bulls’ peril came from their desire to grab the opener and sort out the tie. The introduction of Ronald Zubar for the injured Damien Perrinelle stripped away some of the inherent familiarity required to operate the Red Bulls’ high line effectively. United located ample space on the left flank and started to explore it as the first half progressed.
Fabian Espindola always loomed as the primary danger. His teasing cross prompted a brave intervention from Luis Robles, while he pulled wide from from another counter. Perry Kitchen prompted a vital block from Zubar as United mined a set piece to good effect. Chris Rolfe punctuated the comparatively bright period before halftime by dragging his half-volley wide from more good work by Espindola.
Those measures betrayed United’s dearth of sharpness. These decent openings fell by the wayside and underscored the inability to turn even a solitary shot on goal in the first three halves of the tie. And yet the Red Bulls’ inconsistent work in the wide areas and the vulnerabilities on the break left them exposed to an equalizer in the tie as the second half opened.
United finally registered its first shot on goal in 145 minutes with Espindola’s effort early in the second half, but the visitors started to fade as the rigors of their chasing and harrying took their toll.
Those efforts managed to keep United in the tie nevertheless, though the Red Bulls played their part by exhibiting some ill-advised leniency. Zubar turned high from an inviting Kljestan free kick when it looked easier to score. Kljestan produced a much better effort after Dax McCarty caught United out after a throw-in, but Bill Hamid tipped his clip over the bar.
Somehow, the fate of this tie remained unresolved as the match entered the final quarter of an hour. United tried to muster a final push without truly figuring out how to do it. The endeavor eventually left them exposed to the killer blow as Wright-Phillips atoned for an earlier miss by navigating around Hamid to slot home the winner. It proved an ill-fitting flourish to this tedious afternoon, but the Red Bulls cherished it nevertheless as they advanced to the conference final for the second consecutive year for the first time in club history.
