Bradley Wright-Phillips kept his eye on the ball and found the back of the net when the Red Bulls needed it the most. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)
BOSTON — Better late than never, much better for Bradley Wright-Phillips and the Red Bulls.
Wright-Phillips struck in the 87th minute to lift the Red Bulls to a 1-0 quarterfinals victory over the 10-man New England Revolution in the Lamar Hunt/U.S. Open Cup at Jordan Field at Harvard University Wednesday night.
The Red Bulls advanced to the semifinals for only the fifth time in their history.
For the first time in its 22-year history, New York also won for the second consecutive week in New England as the Red Bulls recorded another 11th-hour win, a 3-2 triumph in Major League Soccer action in Foxborough, Mass.
“Obviously a big moment for our guys, big moment for the club,” Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch said. “We’re really excited to be in the semifinals, that’s for sure.”
Marsch noted that his team had to go through Hudson River Derby rival New York City FC, the Philadelphia Union and now the Revs to reach the semifinals.
“We’ve earned the semifinals,” he said. “The stakes get higher. The commitment gets higher. We’re on the verge of something special. But we have to stay focused on all the little things that got us here. not only that, gotten our season moving in the right direction. So, there’s momentum on our team.”
Felipe chipped a pass to BWP, who slid a close-range shot past goalkeeper Brad Knighton for the lone goal of the match before 2,331 fans.
“It was a great ball,” Wright-Phillips said. “I didn’t have too much to do. I knew I had to get a decent touch on it. Yeah, I just put my toe in.”
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Video courtesy of the Red Bulls’ Facebook page
For most of the game, the Red Bulls worked hard.
“We had to dig deep. we had to dig deep in the season, we’ve had to dig deep in games,” Marsch said. “And that was what we’ve been trying to build this year. We still have a long way to go, but that shows massive growth. To come to New England, tough places to play, twice in a week.”
Red Bulls goalkeeper Ryan Meara recorded his fourth Open Cup shutout.
“Maybe it wasn’t the prettiest game or the best soccer played,” he said. “I think we outbattled them and that’s what got us the win.”
Knighton was superb for the hosts for most of the night, stopping several shots by New England.
Revs defender Benjamin Angoua was sent off by referee Jorge Gonzalez in the 75th minute, but the reason why was not immediately known.
The Revs dominated the early action, but slowly, but surely the Red Bulls began to assert themselves as the opening half rolled on.
Daniel Royer headed a shot wide left in the 10th minute and Knighton had an easy save of Felipe’s shot in the 29th minute.
In the 41st minute, Wright-Phillips, after a nifty back-heel pass by Sean Davis, fired a hard, close-range shot on net that Knighton batted away with his left wrist to close out a scoreless first half.
Knighton continued to thwart the Red Bulls in the second half, saving Royer’s header in the 74th minute and Sacha Kljestan in the 85th minute.
He even had a little help from the woodwork when Felipe’s free kick smacked off the crossbar as the Revs managed to knock the ball out of harm’s way and out of bounds for a throw-in.
And the Red Bulls will have an opportunity to play some more football in the semifinals in August.
“Not there yet two more games to go,” Felip said on Twitter. “But a great night for all of us.”