Luis Robles was at his acrobatic best for the Red Bulls. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Red Bulls twice overcame one-goal deficits as a much-malgined player scored the winning goal in the 90th minute to secure a rare victory at Gillette Stadium Wednesday night.
Second-half substitute Gonzalo Veron struck in the 90th minute and Luis Robles produced several key saves to lift New York to a stunning 3-2 triumph over the New England Revolution at a venue that has caused them nothing but agony over the years.
On Wednesday night, the roles were reversed. This time the Red Bulls left the hosts wondering what had happened as they won only for the second time at the stadium, nicknamed The Razor.
The Red Bulls twice equalized before Veron, who came on for Bradley Wright-Phillips in the 83rd minute, cracked a 16-yard shot off a Felipe feed from atop the right side of the penalty area past goalkeeper Cody Cropper for his first goal of the season to give the visitors a 3-2 advantage.
“It says a lot that we put him in that game at the end, because we still feel like he’s a guy who can make plays and is an important guy,” Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch said. “For him personally, I know he cares about this team so much and for him to make a big play, I think he’s in a good way. It’s a proud moment for him.”
Robles echoed Marsch’s thoughts.
“That’s why the emotions were so high – we know he’s been battling the ups and downs of making that transition,” he said. “Look, we believe in the guy and we know he’s capable of changing the game. What he was able to do tonight, for us, at least, from what we see in practice, he should be able to do that in each and every game that he comes into.”
GONZALO VERON WITH THE GO-AHEAD!
تم نشره بواسطة New York Red Bulls في 5 يوليو، 2017
Video courtesy of the Red Bulls’ Facebook page
They needed to survive five minutes of stoppage time before the lead became a win.
The seventh-place Red Bulls (8-8-2, 26 points) won for only the third time on the road this season and scored three goals for the first time this year while the 10th-place Revs (20) fell to 5-9-5 overall.
Marsch became the franchise’s all-time leader in MLS regular season wins with 42. Marsch surpassed Octavio Zambrano and Hans Backe.
Robles, who continued to add to his league-record (158) of consecutive matches started and finished, recorded six saves.
These two teams will meet again next week at Harvard University in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt/U.S. Open Cup.
In the opening half, the Red Bulls were a horror show on defense, team and on the backline as Robles had to work overtime to keep the visitors within striking distance.
The scoring came within a six-minute span in the first half as the Revs’ Diego Fagundez confounded and ripped apart the Red Bulls defense with his savvy, whether it was dribbling or passing.
The hosts drew first blood in the 21st minute as Fagundez did most of the work. He set up Teal Bunbury with a relatively easy shot from the right side of the penalty area past Robles.
Only two minutes later, Bradley Wright-Phillips equalized on a bullet of a shot from 16 yards that ricocheted off the crossbar and into the goal for his ninth goal of the season and a 1-1 tie.
Bradley Wright-Phillips with a SCREAMER! 😱
تم نشره بواسطة New York Red Bulls في 5 يوليو، 2017
Video courtesy of the Red Bulls’ Facebook page
But that was short-lived as the Red Bulls’ backline was caught watching instead of defending in the 27th minute and they paid the price. This time Fagundez drilled a shot from the right side that Robles saved. The ball, however, bounded to the left side, to an open Lee Nguyen. While Robles scrambled to get to the left side of the net, the crafty Revs midfielder placed it home for a 2-1 advantage.
The Red Bulls, however, showed some life in the second half and equalized another time on Daniel Royer’s penalty kick in the 55th minute.
New England’s Gershon Koffie fouled midfielder Sean Davis at the right edge of the penalty area. Royer placed his shot into the lower right corner as Cropper dove the other way and we had a 2-2 tie.
Daniel Royer converts!!!
تم نشره بواسطة New York Red Bulls في 5 يوليو، 2017
Video courtesy of the Red Bulls’ Facebook page
