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For seventy-five minutes the New England Revolution and New York Red Bulls seemed destined for extra time or even penalties in their US Open Cup quarterfinal match.
A second half red card to defender Benjamin Angoua and a late Bradley Wright-Phillips goal changed all that, as the Revs were defeated for the second time in as many games by their rivals and eliminated in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
It was a tepid match overall by New England, who struggled to create in the final third. The Revs were outshot by RBNY 14-6 overall and 7-3 for shots on target. Kei Kamara put both of his two shots on target but neither were able to trouble New York keeper Ryan Meara.
Teal Bunbury had the best chance of the evening in the second half when he flashed a shot at the hour mark wide of the net. Bunbury beat RBNY defender Alex Long down the right flank, but his effort to find the far post was unsuccessful.
With 15 minutes to go however, the complexion of the game changed when Angoua was shown a straight red card in the 75th minute. Angoua had fouled Wright-Phillips in the Revs third of the field, but that foul seemed rather harmless. It was after the play in a scrum that Angoua might have made contact with an opponent’s face or neck, prompting the straight red card from referee Jorge Gonzalez.
The ensuing free kick from Sacha Kljestan would go off the crossbar and a follow up header also went wide.
Ten minutes later, Wright Phillips would strike from close range, in the area usually occupied by Angoua, as he was played in by Felipe and able to redirect a ball through traffic past Brad Knighton. The simple goal wasted a rather stellar evening in net for Knighton, who made five saves on the night.
With the win the Red Bulls advance to their first USOC semifinal since 2003. They will play the winner of the postponed FC Cincinnati-Miami FC match. The semifinal draw for hosting priority by the USSF will take place tomorrow.
The Revolution’s next match will be Saturday, July 22nd at home to the LA Galaxy. The Revolution currently sit in tenth place in the MLS Eastern Conference standings, eight points behind sixth place Columbus Crew SC and a playoff spot.