HARRISON, N.J. (June 16, 2015) – The New York Red Bulls earned a 3-0 victory over Atlanta Silverbacks FC in the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night at Red Bull Arena. Early goals from Lloyd Sam and Ronald Zubar got things rolling, while homegrown midfielder Sean Davis scored his first professional goal.
It was the Red Bulls first win in the Open Cup since May 29, 2013, when the club defeated Reading United of the PDL. With the victory, New York improves to 21-18 all-time in Open Cup play, and 5-0 at Red Bull Arena.
The Red Bulls sent out a full-strength starting lineup, and put in a complete 90 minute performance to secure the victory and a place in the next round of the tournament.
New York opened the scoring in the seventh minute. Bradley Wright-Phillips controlled a long pass in the penalty area, turned and laid the ball off to Sam, who blasted a shot by Atlanta goalkeeper Steward Ceus.
Zubar, seeing his first game action since leaving the season opener with injury on March 8, added the second in the 15th minute, putting back the rebound of a Sacha Kljestan shot off of a designed set play.
Dane Richards replaced Sam in the 24th minute after the Englishman took a hard challenge that resulted in a yellow card.
Red Bulls homegrown midfielder Sean Davis added the third in the 70th minute. Wright-Phillips started the sequence, playing Mike Grella into the back line. With two Atlanta defenders closing on him, Grella played a lovely backheel pass to Davis, who cut into space and put a left-footed shot past a diving Ceus from the top of the penalty area.
Dane Richards almost made it four in the 80th minute – proving he still has a step by getting behind the defense. The Jamaican took a few touches wide, but could not poke the ball past Ceus.
The Red Bulls dominated the match, outshooting Atlanta 17-7, and 8-1 in shots on goal. Luis Robles was not busy on the night, easily handling the one shot that came his way.
The fifth round of the Open Cup will be played on June 30 and July 1. The draw for the fifth round, also referred to as the Round of 16, will take place on Thursday, June 18 at 11 a.m. ET. U.S. Soccer will live stream the event.
Box Score:
Scoring Summary:
- NY – Lloyd Sam (Bradley Wright-Phillips) 7’
- NY – Ronald Zubar 15’
- NY – Sean Davis (Mike Grella, Bradley Wright-Phillips) 70’
Misconduct Summary:
- ATL – Simon Mensing (caution, foul) 19’
- ATL – Rauwshan McKenzie (caution, foul) 36’
- ATL – Shaka Bangura (caution, foul) 57’
- NY – Bradley Wright-Phillips (caution, foul) 75’
Lineups:
New York Red Bulls: Luis Robles; Connor Lade, Damien Perrinelle, Ronald Zubar (Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 46’), Roy Miller, Dax McCarty ©, Felipe, Sacha Kljestan (Sean Davis, 46’), Lloyd Sam (Dane Richards, 24’), Mike Grella, Bradley Wright-Phillips
TOTAL SHOTS: 17; SHOTS ON GOAL: 8; FOULS: 12; OFFSIDE: 2; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 1.
Atlanta Silverbacks: Steward Ceus; Rauwshan McKenzie (Chris Christian, 39’), Paul Black, Simon Mensing ©, Jonathan Okafor, Dominic Oppong (Hans Denissen, 62’), Jaime Chavez, Shaka Bangura (Alex Harlley, 68’), Michael Reed, Kyle Porter, Kyle Miller
TOTAL SHOTS: 7; SHOTS ON GOAL: 1; FOULS: 11; OFFSIDE: 1; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 5.
- Referee: Younes Marrakchi
- Referee’s Assistants: Logan Brown, Joseph Zawistowski
- 4th Official: Ernie Constantine
- Attendance: 5,585
Notes:
- The New York Red Bulls won their first game of the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 3-0 victory over the Atlanta Silverbacks in the fourth round on Tuesday evening at Red Bull Arena.
- It was the first meeting between New York and Atlanta in U.S. Open Cup play.
- New York is 21-18 all-time in U.S. Open Cup play and 8-4 in home matches.
- Tuesday’s victory is the first in U.S. Open Cup play for the Red Bulls since a 2-0 victory over Reading United (PDL) on May 29, 2013. Lloyd Sam had one of the two Red Bulls’ goals in the shutout.
- New York is a perfect 5-0 all-time at Red Bull Arena in the U.S. Open Cup.
- Lloyd Sam scored his second career goal in U.S. Open Cup play with his goal in the seventh minute to open the scoring. Bradley Wright-Phillips assisted on the Sam goal.
- Ronald Zubar scored his first goal with the Red Bulls in the 15th minute. It was the first goal for Zubar since scoring for Ajaccio on Sept. 29, 2013. It was the second appearance of the season for Zubar since making the start in the MLS opener at Sporting Kansas City on March 8. Zubar missed the previous 12 MLS games with injuries to his hamstring and quad.
- Sean Davis scored his first professional goal in the 70th minute to extend the lead to 3-0. Wright-Phillips and Mike Grella assisted on the goal.
- The Red Bulls outshot Atlanta 17-7, and 8-1 in shots on goal.
- New York returns to action Saturday, June 20 vs. Vancouver in MLS regular season action. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Red Bull Arena with live television coverage on MSG.
