DC United fans flaunted a huge banner before this game, quoting the Dropkick Murphys and promising “a blackout tonight”, but in the event it was the team in black who exited the MLS playoffs.
The team in white, New York Red Bulls, found the precious away goal that allowed them to ease into the Eastern Conference final despite a 2-1 loss on the day. The only negative for them was the loss of Roy Miller to a late red card.
Péguy Luyindula got the decisive goal in the 57th minute, from a Thierry Henry assist, and while DC pressed afterwards they did so in a nightmare scenario that left them needing four on the day – too big an ask in the end.
DC began the afternoon facing a two-goal deficit after being dismantled in New York – a scenario they may scarcely have predicted when topping the Eastern Conference in the regular season, while New York were scraping into the playoffs. Facing early elimination from a season in which they had bettered the previous year’s dismal points haul by 43, some had expected DC to attack from the start. Those observers may have been surprised by a cautious start, where if anything New York shaded the early exchanges.
Perhaps the hosts’ caution was understandable, given New York’s counter-attacking prowess, and the potential for n away goal to effectively kill off the tie. If anything, in the first half hour DC found their own best chances coming from counters, despite dominating possession, while New York used set-pieces and the work rate of Bradley Wright-Phillips in harassing the DC central defenders to fashion what chances they got. In the 12th minute, Wright-Phillips got between Bobby Boswell and Steve Birnbaum to nudge the ball inside for Luyindula to shoot from the edge of the box, but his shot was tame and straight at Bill Hamid.
The poor finish was typical of a first half that was low on quality. Even Henry, whose sublime touches had lit up the first leg, was at fault. His first touch of the game was a misplaced pass, though he was hardly alone in that, as a bumpy surface, nerves and frenetic midfield harrying on both sides kept flowing soccer to a minimum.
Henry did find his touch in the 33rd minute, striding forward then touching a ball wide into the path of Wright-Phillips, who checked and shaped for a cross that clearly struck Boswell’s hand, though at close enough range, and with the defender’s arm otherwise fairly tight to his body, that referee Ismail Elfath was never going to give a penalty.
New York could have done with it – four minutes later, DC left-back Taylor Kemp bombed forward on a great overlapping run to hit a perfect first-time cross to the edge of the six-yard box, where an unmarked Nick DeLeon had raced between Jamison Olave and Ibrahim Sekagya to head home unmarked and with goalkeeper Luis Robles stranded. New York were looking at a difficult second 45 minutes.
They tried to rally instantly. On 41 minutes, Wright-Phillips showed tremendous tenacity in forcing his way past two defenders to make a shooting chance, only to be denied as he went one-on-one with Hamid. A minute later Lloyd Sam’s low cross briefly caused havoc in the six-yard box, but DC held on and were still pressing when the whistle blew for half-time – Fabian Espindola cutting inside before hitting a low shot straight at Robles.
In the second half New York came out sharper. But after some early Red Bulls pressing had seen Sam shoot straight at Hamid after making space in the box, the first clear chance went to Espindola, whose glancing header from the edge of the six-yard box drifted tantalisingly past the far post.
Now it was DC’s turn to regret a missed chance, as on 57 minutes Henry ran down the left on to Luyindula’s cushioned header before hitting a perfectly placed cross to the near post, where Luyindula had continued running to flick home for the priceless away goal. Espindola was booked as he remonstrated with the assistant referee.
Now DC needed three and had just over half an hour to get them. Davy Arnaud was duly brought off for Eddie Johnson as Ben Olsen was forced into gambling on an extra forward. As Johnson jogged on Espindola was sending a 35-yard free-kick whistling just over the New York bar.
On the New York bench, Mike Petke too was thinking about changes as he contemplated a kick for home and an Eastern Conference final. In the 65th minute Tim Cahill, who has found himself marginalised in the system change that kick started New York’s run to the playoffs, came in for Eric Alexander to provide some extra bite at the base of the midfield. The gamble Olsen had taken in starting Chris Rolfe ended with the forward coming off for Lewis Neal after a quiet game.
Gaps were opening up in the DC defence as they pressed for quick goals, and in the 70th minute Luyindula could have sealed victory as New York broke. The Frenchman, who has had a mini-renaissance in New York’s playoff campaign, outstripped his marker before squaring to an unmarked Wright-Phillips in the center of the box, but the league’s top goalscorer slipped at the crucial moment, and DC were still, notionally, alive.
Another DC forward arrived in the 73rd minute, as David Estrada came on for Pontius, while Petke countered by withdrawing Luyindula for Ambroise Oyongo a couple of minutes later.
Any thoughts of New York easing to the final whistle were put on hold in the 78th minute, when defender Roy Miller went in high for an aerial ball and caught Sean Franklin around the face with his foot. Elfath raced the width of the field to hand the New York defender, no stranger to playoff letdowns, a straight red card.
DC continued pressing dutifully and fashioned some half-chances, but in truth the game, and what had been a remarkable season for them, had gone with the Luyindula goal.
There was still time for a modest twist – as the board went up to announce five minutes added on, DC sealed the consolation of a win on the day as Sean Franklin swept home at close range after a ball was headed across the box. It roused the crowd, but it was too big an ask for the team to do more.
New York withdrew Sam for another central defender in Armando and weathered the storm, such as it was. The game ended in ignominy for Espindola, who once again confronted the assistant, shoving him and earning a straight red after the final whistle.
Not that he will miss any games this season. New York, meanwhile, annual failures at this stage of the playoffs in the Henry era, extended that era into uncharted territory. They will be at home next — facing the winners of Columbus and New England in the Eastern Conference final.
DC United: Hamid, Franklin, Boswell, Birnbaum, Kemp; DeLeon, Arnaud (Johnson, 60), Kitchen, Pontius (Estrada, 73); Espindola, Rolfe (Neal, 66).
New York Red Bulls: Robles; Eckersley, Olave, Sekagya, Miller; McCarty, Alexander (Cahill, 65); Sam (Armando, 90), Luyindula (Oyongo, 76), Henry; Wright-Phillips.
Referee: Ismail Elfath.
Attendance: 20,187.
