To the next round of the US Open Cup. That's right! The Red Bulls will be moving on to the next round, after defeating USL Pro (3rd division) FC New York by a score of 2-1.
Things didn't look good at first, as the Red Bulls, fielding a team made up mostly of reserves (save for Agudelo and Ream), couldn't find the back of the net in the whole of the first half. Things didn't get better in the second, as it was the visitors who opened the scoring. In the 56th minute, the Red Bulls gave FCNY's Owen Morrison all day to tee up a shot that sailed into the top left corner of Sutton's goal. At that point, as any MetroBulls fanatic would, I feared the worst. FCNY's lead, however, would only last two minutes.
In the 58th minute, Juan Agudelo headed a failed FCNY clearance into the path of Corey Hertzog. The young rookie managed to score from an impossible angle and it was all even @one. That was redemption for Hertzog as, by that point, he'd been (way) offsides on multiple occasions. In the 65th minute, the Red Bulls would take the lead for good, thanks to a goal from "The Best Rooney Ever". That was all she wrote! FCNY made some noise, but it's RBNY who will be moving on to the next round. If you missed this one, you can watch the whole thing by clicking here.
Photo Credit: Dan Dickinson
Things are looking up for the Red Bulls ahead of their away match @San Jose. This USOC 3rd round victory takes them into the quarterfinals, an away fixture @Chicago, on Tuesday, July 12th (7:30pm, CT). Mr. Backe has promised to use the same team against the Fire, so let us pray. Speaking of promises: the great You Suck Corrales has promised to make the USOC trip to Chicago. Greatest Supporter Ever! That, or insane maniac - take your pick.
Please click on the above video for pre-game, 1st half and half-time comments. You can click here for 2nd half and full-time comments, including a guest appearance (at the very end) by the one and only Luke, Luke, Luke Rodgers. Please click here for my photo album of this one, or click here for the slideshow. Here's a nice gallery from the official RBNY site.
A fantastic time with the usual crew. I sat among the Prawn Sandwich sections in the first half, but joined the supporters for the second. The amount of fun one has in the South Ward is many times more than whatever fun can be had in the rest of the stadium. Yes - It's true! It was great running into Luke Rodgers after the game. A great guy and a great player who will, hopefully, be back soon. That's all for now. Here's hoping for a result @San Jose and I'll see you @The Cathedral of Football for RBNY vs TFC on July 6th. Viper Out!
Posts
