What was supposed to be a fight for soccer bragging rights in New York turned into a one-sided beating when the Red Bulls rolled over for the Cosmos on Saturday night.
The big-spending Red Bulls of MLS seemed to take the game like a training exercise before their vacation, and it showed. The second-tier Cosmos played as if it were their World Cup, and it showed, as they rolled to a 3-0 fourth-round U.S. Open Cup rout at Shuart Stadium at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
“[Saturday] for us was maybe the most important game in the last 30 years,’’ the Cosmos’ Alessandro Noselli said. “Three-zero against the Red Bulls is unbelievable. I don’t know in the future, but today maybe we are the best team in New York.’’
In one of the biggest U.S. Open Cup matches of the MLS era, and the first between pro teams in New York since 1999, the Red Bulls were disinterested while the Cosmos — who returned to NASL last year — were dominant.
“We knew how important the game was. It was a derby,’’ Cosmos coach Gio Savarese said. “We came here very seriously to play for the people that came to watch. Our fans deserve a team that’s going to give 100 percent. We need to build a new history. Today, we did that.’’
The Cosmos outshot the Red Bulls 21-3, got a pair of goals from Mads Stokkelien and a clean sheet from goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer. And they earned a fifth-round date either June 24 or 25 against the winner of Tuesday’s game between Harrisburg of the USL and Philadelphia Union of MLS.
Were there any positives at all for the Red Bulls?
“Yeah, we have vacation. It’s over,’’ said Red Bulls coach Mike Petke, whose team won’t play again until June 27. “[Savarese’s] quote last week was this is like Barcelona versus Real Madrid. A couple of tweets were ‘Ready to make history.’ My biggest job was to get these guys to understand it was a game and we want to win it. Vacation starts tomorrow, not today. I wasn’t able to do that.’’
Clearly.
In the eighth minute, Carlos Mendes lofted a pass that split defenders Armando and Ambroise Oyongo, and Stokkelien blasted an acute angle shot far post. The Norwegian striker doubled the lead in the 73rd minute when he volleyed in a Danny Szetela cross.
After Noselli added a third goal, the game got chippy, and Red Bull rookie Chris Duvall was sent off for a two-footed tackle on Sebastien Guenzatti.
“They were better than us in every way,’’ the Red Bulls’ Lloyd Sam said. “We knew this was going to be like a World Cup game for them. … We were intending to match that, and they were better than us. That’s all there is.’’