“I saw Thierry in the one-on-one...I know that he always beats his opponent on his left side…I just went straight to the first post.” – Peguy Luyindula
The New York Red Bulls entered the second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on November 8 at RFK Stadium with a 2-0 lead and were looking to advance to their third ever Conference Championship.
By halftime D.C. United had taken a 1-0 lead, giving the home side hope of at least tying the aggregate score at 2-2 and forcing extra time.
However in the second half the Red Bulls would grab a stronghold on the game and the series.
In the 57th minute, Dax McCarty sent a long ball from midfield to Bradley Wright-Phillips who was just outside of the penalty box eying a pass for Thierry Henry.
“Dax played the long ball to Bradley [Wright-Phillips] when I saw Thierry,” Peguy Luyindula said. “I know that he always beats his opponent on the left side to cross it one time so I just went straight to the first post.”
Wright-Phillips met the ball with his head, directing a pass to an open Henry on the left wing. Henry, noticing there was only one defender between him and the endline, took on the lone Sean Franklin and beat him. Luyindula spotted the one-on-one situation between Henry and Franklin and made a run to the near post in case of a cross.
As soon as Henry had space, he hit his cross towards Luyindula who had gotten behind the D.C. defense and calmly met the ball with his right foot.
“It’s a little bit difficult because I was not straight at the goal, so I have to touch it,” Luyindula said. “I [tried] to beat Bill Hamid on his left and I just tried to touch it slightly so it can go just past his left hand and that was the hardest part…it was kind of touchy, but I’m glad that I made it”
The ball deflected off his boot and floated into the goal to effectively end the top-seeded United’s season.
D.C. would score once more and win the match 2-1, but were eliminated 3-2 on aggregate. The Red Bulls now face the New England Revolution in the Eastern Conference Finals. The first leg will be held Sunday, November 23 at Red Bull Arena at 1:30 p.m. ET (TV: NBC).
NY: 57’ Peguy Luyindula (2). Assisted By: Thierry Henry (4), Bradley Wright-Phillips (1).
