New York shutout by Crystal Palace
Red Bulls go scoreless in 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace in Annapolis
The lights did little to brighten the dark field after the Red Bulls were upset but outplayed by Crystal Palace USA 2-0 in a third round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match at Lawrence E. Knight Stadium in Annapolis, Md.
Andrew Marshall and Gary Brooks scored goals for Crystal Palace in the 18th and 75th minutes respectively to cap a tremendous performance by the USL2 side from Baltimore.
Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio left several of his team's front line players at home or on the bench, including goalkeeper Jon Conway, Dave van den Bergh, Dane Richards, Seth Stammler and Oscar Echeverry, while star striker Juan Pablo Angel and Claudio Reyna are still injured.
New York even played the last 56 minutes with a man advantage after former New England Revolution player Ibrahim Kante was given a straight red card for a reckless two-footed tackle on Chris Megaloudis in front of the Red Bulls bench.
Despite the man advantage, the bigger and more athletic Red Bulls created only a handful of quality chances against the shorthanded but energetic Palace and did nothing to slow down the menacing attacks from all directions by Matthew Mbuta, who did not score but hit the post twice.
The Bulls were content with pushing the ball around in the midfield in the early going but often settling for long, hopeful balls over the top of the disciplined 4-4-2 shape of Crystal Palace that resulted in giveaways more times than not.
But Palace converted on their first opportunity when Marshall slipped inside two Red Bulls defenders and knocked home a header past goalkeeper Zach Thornton off a Bryan Harkin corner in the 18th minute to take a surprising 1-0 lead.
The match marked a homecoming for Red Bulls goalkeeper Zach Thornton, who was an All-America in soccer and lacrosse at nearby Loyola University in Baltimore. Thornton played in the USL during the inaugural season of the Baltimore Bays in 1993, before moving on to the MetroStars and MLS for their inaugural season in 1996.
A rare but obvious back pass to the goalkeeper was called shortly afterward, giving the Red Bulls an indirect free kick from a meager seven yards from goal. The Bulls could not convert however, after Magee's blast banged off one of a sea of players in the Palace goalmouth.
New York had a golden opportunity to equalize on their ensuing corner but Jeff Parke fanned on an open header directly in front of the net.
After a string of ugliness, with four yellow cards issued, peaked in the 34th minute with Kante's ejection, the frustrated Red Bulls could not connect on the critical ball to generate significant quality chances after the sending off against the packed-in Palace defense.
They did create a last-gasp effort just before the halftime whistle from but Megaloudis' left-footed cracker was deflected away.
Entering the second stanza with an imminent embarrassing loss looking them in the eye, Osorio inserted three players, including John Wolyniec up front for ineffective midfielder Gordon Kljestan, playing three up top with three in the back in hopes of cracking the Palace bunker.
However, it was Mbuta who got the first legitimate opportunity with some nifty footwork controlling the ball, slipping around Andrew Boyens, for a right-footed blast from 18-yards that Thornton got down nicely to his left to knock it away in the 58th minute.
The Red Bulls responded nicely however, but Magee's free kick from 37 yards straight away was snatched cleanly out of the air by Palace goalkeeper Matt Nelson in the 63rd minute.
The Bulls created another strong opportunity four minutes later but Mark cleared Kevin Goldthwaite's header off the line just inside the left post.
Mbuta continued to keep the Red Bulls back line on its heels, taking on three defenders down the left flank before scorching a left-footed shot from distance that deflected off Chris Leitch's leg onto the crossbar in the 74th minute. The shot would have cleanly beaten Thornton, who dove the other way in anticipation of the original shot.
But one minute later, Palace put the game on ice with a superb full volley finish by Brooks, finishing a low cross from left flank by Paul Robson to make the score 2-0.
They were close to adding another after Mark's original shot was saved nicely by Thornton but a wide open Val Teixeira shanked the bouncing but wide open rebound wide right.
With the surprising victory, Crystal Palace now books a place in the Open Cup quarterfinals against the New England Revolution, next Tuesday in New Britain, Conn.
Chris Snear is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
