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Only 3 days after dispatching New York City FC at Yankee Stadium, the team hosted the New York Cosmos in the 5th round (or the Round of 16) in the 2015 US Open Cup. It was a rematch of a 2014 Open Cup match up that saw the Red Bulls travel out to Hofstra University and lose 3-0 with Chris Duvall getting himself a red card. The big question was, with a game coming up on Saturday at Columbus, how would Jesse Marsch approach the match?
STARTING XI and BENCH vs @NYCosmos #USOC2015 #RBNY pic.twitter.com/cKbn6gVGr7
— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) July 1, 2015
The team came out strong again, with only 3 regular starters missing (Felipe Martin, Mike Grella, and Bradley Wright-Phillips), with all 3 appearing on the bench anyway. The Red Bulls came out strong, as Lloyd Sam put in a far post cross that Sal Zizzo put back across goal to open up the scoring for the night. The Cosmos would answer back though as a Matt Miazga clearance went right to Leonardo Fernandes who passed it to Lucky Mkosana, who beat Robles to draw the game at 1. The rest of the first half was met with both teams trading jabs but no one breaking through. A 42nd minute corner kick changed that as Anatole Abang got on the end of the service by Sacha Kljestan and put the home team ahead right before halftime.
The second half was almost a clinic put on by the Red Bulls, who controlled possession for most of the half. Chris Duvall earned a penalty kick early in the half, and Kljestan stepped up to take it. He put it right down the middle and doubled the lead in the 54th minute. Substitute Mike Grella showed some nifty footwork at the end of regulation to add another insurance goal and ensure that the Red Bulls took the title "Kings of New York" in 2015.
3 Thoughts
Sean Davis
Sean Davis = decent
— Once A Metro (@Once_A_Metro) July 2, 2015
Enough said.
Taking it super serial
I don't think there's any question now about how serious the Red Bulls are taking the Open Cup. They ran out a mostly full squad against the Atlanta Silverbacks. They put in to host the Round of 16 and Round of 8 matches. They ran out a mostly full squad against the Cosmos.
Chris Duvall
The one dark spot for the Red Bulls is Chris Duvall having to be taken off the field using a stretcher after a bad tackle by Hunter Gorskie, who got a yellow card. The Red Bulls don't have any proven options at right back after Duvall. Given the stretch of games coming up in July, the injury, depending on the extent of the injury, can be a major blow to the back line.