Revolution midfielder Noel Buck (29) controls the ball as New York Red Bulls defender Sean Nealis (15) defends. (Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)

WINNING THE DUEL: Morgan converts penalty against PK specialist to lift Red Bulls into home win over Revs

By Michael Lewis
FrontRowSoccer.com Editor

It was a classic confrontation between penalty kick specialists on either side of the ball in the 78th minute.

Ready to kick it was Lewis Morgan, who was perfect this season putting the spot kick away.

His adversary was a goalkeeper who had a pretty damn good record denying the opposition on those attempts in a tied game.

Only minutes prior, Lewis Morgan had been taken down in the box by Tommy McNamara and after stating his case to the referee, had VAR look at the play and award the PK.

Morgan, who had converted all five of his PK attempts this season, stepped up to the penalty spot, eyeing the goalkeeper. That was New England Revolution keeper Djordje Petrovic, who had denied shooters three times in nine attempts this campaign.

The Red Bulls midfielder drilled a shot into the lower left corner as Petrovic seemed to be ready to dive in the other direction. The goal lifted the hosts into a 2-1 lead, a score they managed to defend for a comeback victory at Red Bull Arena on Saturday night.

The goal was Morgan’s team-leading 14th of the MLS season and 17th across all competitions.

The Red Bulls (14-9-8,50 points), who solidified their hold on third place in the MLS Eastern Conference while denying Revs head coach Bruce Arena his 250th MLS win as eighth-place New England (38), desperately trying to clinch a playoff spot, fell to 9-10-11.

The New Jersey side, which improved its home record to 5-6-5, can clinch a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs next week when it goes against Hudson River Derby rival New York City FC at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

Morgan put an exclamation point on a second half that had plenty of excitement and drama after an opening half that both sides might have wanted to forget.

There were very few scoring chances for either side.

Most of the shots were blocked of went wide. If they did find its target, both goalkeepers had no problems gathering the ball.

In fact, the Red Bulls’ most dangerous opportunity came via a Revs error in the 19th minute as defender Henry Kessler sent the ball back to goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic. His back pass hit the right post and did not enter the net as an own goal.

The Red Bulls enjoyed a 63-percent possession advantage, which is quite rare for them, in the first half. However, the hosts could not get off many, if any decent scoring opportunities that would make an opposing coach or keeper quake in their shoes.

Fortunately for the fans at RBA, the game picked up in the second half.

McNamara found the range for the visitors in the 53rd minute on an outstanding feed by Gustavo Bou. Bou did a 180-degree turn on the left flank and played a pass between two Red Bulls defenders to the Nyack, N.Y. native. McNamara drilled his shot past goalkeeper Carlos Coronel from seven yards as center backs Aaron Long and Sean Nealis tried in vain to catch up to him and stop the New England player.

It didn’t take the Red Bulls long to equalize as Cristian Casseres, Jr., off a fine give-and-go with Elias Manoel, struck from point-blank range to knot things up at 1-1 in the 58th minute. The goal snapped the Red Bulls scoring drought at 195 minutes and Petrovic’s shutout streak at 312 minutes.

Four minutes later, a goal-hungry Casseres had hopes of having his side grabbing the lead as he powered a shot that Petrovic smothered.

The Red Bulls thought they had grabbed the lead themselves in the 64th minute as Luquinhas put the ball into the net during a scramble. A VAR check, however, determined that the ball hit his hand and the goal was nullified.

That led the late-match heroics to Morgan, who did not disappoint.

 

 

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.