HARRISON, N.J. – The New York Red Bulls need to overturn a deficit in the second leg of their Eastern Conference Championship in order to stay alive in the MLS Cup Playoffs, presented by A&T. But they will have to do it without their most prolific goal scorer.
Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips was shown a yellow card in the 60th minute of Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to the New England Revolution, giving him two in the postseason and leading to an automatic suspension for next Saturday’s second leg at Gillette Stadium (3 pm ET on NBCSN, UDN, TSN2, RDS2).
Wright-Phillips was booked at the hour-mark for impeding Bobby Shuttleworth while the Revolution goalkeeper attempted to roll out a ball to a teammate (WATCH IT HERE). It was the veteran striker’s second caution of the playoffs after picking up a late yellow in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. D.C. United (WATCH IT HERE) leading to a yellow-card accumulation suspension, something Wright-Phillips, his teammates and head coach Mike Petke didn't realize until being notified of it postgame.
“I didn't know the rules of the yellow card accumulation,” said Wright-Phillips, who scored New York’s goal on Sunday in the first half (WATCH IT HERE). “I'm angry, obviously. I'm angry. Stupid yellow card and now I have to pay.”
Wright-Phillips insisted that he wasn’t trying to “annoy” Shuttleworth and that the ball was simply thrown into his path. Regardless, match official Allen Chapman deemed it a bookable offense and New York now have an even tougher uphill battle to climb.
Without Wright-Phillips, New York will be missing the spear of their attack. The 29-year-old Englishman won the MLS Golden Boot after scoring a record-tying 27 goals in the regular season, and he had also netted four times in as many playoff matches.
It is a big void to fill, but one the Red Bulls must find an effective solution for in order to boost their chances of making it to the MLS Cup final. In the two matches that Wright-Phillips missed this year, the Red Bulls came away with two draws.
“We’ve just got to believe,” said midfielder Tim Cahill. “Bradley’s been the heart and soul of this team all season. It’s going to be tough [to replace him], but this tie is far [from] over.”
Cahill seems like the odds-on favorite to replace Wright-Phillips, but Petke would not commit to making that move during postgame interviews.
Other options include inserting former Revolution forward Saer Sene up top or moving captain Thierry Henry – who confirmed Sunday he will play on the turf field at Gillette Stadium – from the left flank to the lone forward role.
In any case, the Red Bulls are confident that whoever steps in can do the job effectively.
“As much as it hurts not to have him, we have guys that can battle, we have got guys that have ability,” said goalkeeper Luis Robles. “I feel like our depth will definitely be tested, but there’s no reason why we can’t still pull it out. “
Franco Panizo covers the New York Red Bulls for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached by email at Franco8813@gmail.com.
