Held scoreless for over an hour by a dogged, determined fourth-division team, the Red Bulls finally broke through for a 2-0 third-round U.S. Open Cup win over Reading United AC Wednesday night at Red Bull Arena. And nobody was beaming brighter or smiling broader than keeper Ryan Meara, who got the shutout in his first meaningful start since last summer.
Fabian Espindola — who suffered an ankle injury — scored in the 61st minute and Lloyd Sam six minutes later to lift them into a June 12 fourth-round date against New England. But it was the return of Meara — who had three saves and a clean sheet in his first start since suffering a hip injury last July 8 against those same Revolution — that had the team buzzing afterward.
“It felt great to get back out there,” said Meara, whose announcement as the starter Friday as met with applause from his teammates. “I spent long enough watching from the sidelines. It was definitely nice to get back out there, especially in front of our own fans. It took a while to really believe I was out there again. It’s been almost a year since my last game. But the main thing is we got the win.
“The whole time I was just smiling, walking out to the field, warming up. It’s nice to see all the guys were happy for me when they found out I was starting.
To have that kind of support from the teammates and the staff, I can’t put that into words how much that means.’’
Reading is a PDL side, but had outscored their foes 18-0 in five games this year and sat back Wednesday night. The Red Bulls got frustrated in the first half, but after Espindola and Dax McCarty came on at the half, they finally broke through.
“When the first one went in we knew there would be more,’’ Sam said. “It was relief when that went in because obviously there was a lot of expectation on us.’’
During the 61st minute, Sam sent McCarty through the defense on a give-and-go. McCarty sent a low slow cross across the goalmouth and Espindola beat his man to put a left-footed poke past goalkeeper John McCarthey.
The Red Bulls iced it six minutes later when Sam cut inside, ran a give-and-go with Espindola, and scored near post.
“This is their World Cup, their biggest game of the year. They work hard and make it tough for us,’’ McCarty said. “The key was patient buildup. They’re going to have a lot of industry and work hard but you have to have patience and build through them.’’
The only negative was Espindola suffering a Grade 1 ankle sprain in the 90th minute after a yellow card tackle by Ben Sweat.
Asked if he took umbrage with the play, coach Mike Petke — who was fined Wednesday for ripping the referees after Sunday’s 2-2 tie — paused for seven seconds and answered no.
“After this past weekend, the fine I just got, I got no issue with it,’’ he said.
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The Red Bulls play host to Vancouver Saturday, then play their next Open Cup game June 12 at Harvard.
brian.lewis@nypost.com