By BRIAN LEWIS
A Red Bulls team that stumbled into the playoffs has taken a magic carpet ride through them. And after last night’s 1-0 win at Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference finals, they have not only the first championship in club history but a berth in next Sunday’s MLS Cup.
They got a 23rd-minute goal from midfielder Dave van den Bergh, clutch saves by rookie keeper Danny Cepero and a lot of luck to get by Real Salt Lake. But after a gut-check victory that was far more hard work than work of art, they’ll face the Columbus Crew next Sunday (3 p.m., ABC) at the Home Depot Center.
“(It shows) that we’ve got great character, first of all,” van den Bergh told Fox Soccer Channel in a postmatch interview. “When it comes down to it, we’re a hell of a team and a tough team to beat.
“In the playoffs you need a little bit of luck and we had a lot of luck (last night). But we’ll take it any way we can get it. This is the first championship for this franchise, so we’ll take it any way it comes.”
Here are some video highlights of the match. Mute the music if it’s not your taste….
After 13 years, it’s the franchise’s first title, and they’re one win away from the league’s ultimate prize. This after little-used striker John Wolyniec _ who scored the final goal in the 3-0 win at Houston last weekend _ got behind Jamison Olave on the left wing, and through the Real Salt Lake player’s mistimed tackle.
He ran down the flank and sent in a low cross that star Juan Pablo Angel tried to run onto. The Colombian couldn’t quite slide onto it, but he did draw both a defender and RSL keeper Nick Rimando to him. That left van den Bergh unmarked, and he calmly slotted the ball home.
The rest of the game was largely bunkering, with the Red Bulls outshot 24-7. But RSL was errant, and coach Juan Carlos Osorio was banking on Cepero and his Diego Jimenez-led defense. That, along with some good fortune, proved enough.
“We had a couple of close calls there, and obviously a couple ringers off the post,” Cepero told FSC. “But sometimes you’re better lucky than good. You need that bit of luck; tonight’s a lot of luck. But at the same time we had our chance to score a goal, we took it, and were able to go up one-nil and hold the fort down.”
They did just that, with 11 men behind the ball and a ruthless defending by the entire team. Chris Leitch was solid at right back, and Carlos Mendes _ barely used in the regular-season _ shook off the rust to fill in admirably at centerback for Andrew Boyens, who suffered a fractured forearm last weekend in Houston.
Jimenez was outstanding, and Cepero made seven saves. The woodwork made at least three, the last coming when Javier Morales hit the post four minutes into stoppage time, with just seconds to play. Clearly, luck was on Red Bulls’ side.
“Playing on the road is always tough and each road game has grown tougher,” Cepero said. “Houston in front of 30,000 which was unbelievably tough and then here in front of 20,000 screaming fans rooting for their team it was ridiculously hard for us. But a little bit of luck, no matter what try and maintain that zone-like focus and that approach, good things will happen for you.”
The Red Bulls were actually 2-1 this year against Columbus, bearing the Crew 2-0 in the April 5 opener, blowing a lead in a 3-1 loss in Ohio on Sept. 18 and then reversing that score Oct. 18 at Giants Stadium. Cepero _ thrust into the starting role after Jon Conway’s suspension _ became the first keeper in MLS history to score a goal in that game.
“(It’s) a tremendous weight off our shoulders,” said Cepero, whose team had lost four of its last six heading into the playoffs. “We believed all year we had the capability of coming here and making a run to the playoffs and getting to L.A. I think we’re a little bit relieved, but more than that we’re excited to go to L.A. to play a familiar foe.”