HARRISON, N.J. — It was a tasty matchup.
New England’s Teal Bunbury, fresh off of a one-goal, one-assist performance in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against Columbus, was going up against young New York Red Bulls defender Ambroise Oyongo. The speedy Cameroonian fullback, filling in for the suspended Roy Miller at left back, was making only his third start since September. Bunbury, with plenty of pace himself, relished the opportunity.
So in the 17th minute of Sunday’s Eastern Conference Championship first leg, when Bunbury found himself wide right, about 25 yards away from the end line with only Oyongo in front of him, going for goal was the only thing on his mind.
The 24-year-old Revolution winger faked out Oyongo with a deft stepover that put the defender on his heels, cut inside with the space he created, and unleashed a curling left-footed effort into the top corner that left Red Bull goalkeeper Luis Robles rooted to his line.
“I was fortunate enough to get matched up one-on-one,” Bunbury said. “I knew it would be someone that hadn’t been playing too much. [Revolution right back Andrew] Farell and I just wanted to try to exploit that area, and I feel like we did well.”
The best part about the strike? That Bunbury buried it with his weaker left foot.
“My left foot isn’t my strong foot, but I feel like I took it well,” Bunbury told reporters after the game. “I had a good feeling it was going in. I have been working on my left.”
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The goal opened the scoring in an entertaining, end-to-end first leg and gave New England the first of two crucial away goals. Bunbury, in his first season with the Revolution, also keyed the 86th minute game-winner, when he played the crucial final ball across goal for midfielder Jermaine Jones to tap in after a Lee Nguyen-led counter attack.
What made the performance all the more sweet for Bunbury is that he came through when his team needed players to increase their roles. The Red Bulls' midfield, specifically Dax McCarty and Eric Alexander, had done a stellar job bottling up Nguyen for much of the day. That attention opened the door for others to pick up the slack for the MVP candidate.
“Whenever there is a player that is being double-teamed, or being focused on more, it definitely frees up someone out there,” Bunbury said. “For me, if that happens to be Lee, or Jermaine, or whoever, hopefully I can get open and exploit that.”
The difference-maker in the game, forward-turned-winger Bunbury received glowing reviews from teammates like forward Charlie Davies.
“I think in the Columbus game, I said that was the best game I’ve ever seen him play. He might have topped it today,” Davies said. “Positionally, now he understands where he needs to be to be effective for the team, both offensively and defensively, and today that stepover and the finish with the left was phenomenal.”
