New York Red Bulls’ Chance To Win Without Bradley Wright-Phillips Aren’t Good
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Game 1 of the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference Finals didn’t go well for the New York Red Bulls, who fell 2-1 to the New England Revolution on an 85th minute goal from Jermaine Jones. The game was quite chippy, as the referee handed out 10 yellow cards to both teams. The most damaging one was to Red Bulls striker Bradley Wright-Phillips, who will now miss the second leg of the finals on Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough since it was the second one for the Golden Boot winner in these playoffs.
After the game, Wright-Phillips was surprised to hear that he’s ruled out for the important match for his interference with Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth as he was trying to roll the ball out to a teammate.
“I didn’t know the rules of the yellow card accumulation,” said Wright-Phillips, to MLSoccer.com, “I’m angry, obviously. I’m angry. Stupid yellow card and now I have to pay.”
Not having their top scorer available only compounds the problems facing New York on Saturday, most notably not taking advantage on set pieces and corners as well as dealing with the counterattack of New England, which was responsible for the two goals scored by the Revs. Left-back Roy Miller coming back for the Red Bulls after missing the last game due to card acclimation will help stem that dangerous attack for the Revolution led by MVP candidate Lee Nguyen.
Not having that security blanket that Wright-Phillips provides means that the bulk of the offensive movement will fall on the shoulders of Thierry Henry, who may be playing in his last game as a Red Bull. If Henry doesn’t get help from players like Tim Cahill and Peguy Luyindula, the chances are really good that this season will end just like every other season for the Red Bulls — without their first MLS Cup.
Brian Harris is a soccer writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter and add him to your network on Google.
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