WASHINGTON D.C. – The New York Red Bulls are peaking at the perfect time. Peguy Luyindula scored on Saturday as the Red Bulls kept the party going for their captain, Thierry Henry. Despite losing the individual game 2-1, the Red Bulls advanced on aggregate 3-2 after defeating DC United 2-0 last Sunday with goals by Luyindula and Bradley Wright-Phillips.
New York won just their third ever playoff series in franchise history and they did it against their rivals, DC United. United won the Eastern Conference regular season crown, and were predicted by most soccer experts to advance to the MLS Cup and face the winner of the Western Conference. However, after a shocking loss last Sunday, DC United was too far behind the eight ball to score the net three goals needed to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
DC United got goals from Nick DeLeon and Sean Franklin on Saturday to help make it interesting, but it was not enough as the Red Bulls hung tough despite playing a man down for the final 20 minutes of the match. New York fans are surely celebrating tonight as they finally got over the immovable obstacle that was DC United. The Red Bulls lost all five previous playoff meetings against United, and were 0-5 in the playoffs before today.
Luyindula’s goal came in the 57th minute off of a beautiful cross by Henry. The goal gave the Red Bulls a commanding four-goal advantage on aggregate and it was just a matter of locking down on defense the rest of the way. New York’s Roy Miller, received a red card in the 78th minute for kicking the DC United midfielder in the face on a jump ball. At the time, the booking made things interesting, but the Red Bulls were able to persevere and advance. They face the winner of the Colombus Crew and New England Revolution series next week.
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