All John Wolyniec does, apparently, is score goals in the U.S. Open Cup.
The veteran forward scored a brace and rookie Conor Chinn added a third as the Red Bulls, looking crisp and confident, defeated the Colorado Rapids, 3-0, on Wednesday night in a U.S. Open Cup play-in match. The victory, the third of the tournament this year for New York, propelled the team into the cup's round of 16.
Fielding a lineup mainly of reserves, the Red Bulls held the majority of possession and chances against a Colorado side showing a starting XI that featured seven players from their last game, a league win on May 15 against D.C. United.
In the 11th minute the Red Bulls put one in the back of the net having dominated the match from the get go. After a patient buildup, the Red Bulls used four touches to get the goal. Following a Sinisa Ubiparipovic cutback that flatfooted Ross Labauex and caused the Colorado defender to fall to the ground, Ubiparipovic sent a through-ball to Irving Garcia, who was streaking down the right flank. Garcia took one touch to get the ball into the box, sending a centering pass into the six yard area. Wolyniec one-timed the effort past Ian Joyce for his third goal in the competition.
Despite the inability of their team to have any semblance of an attack in the first half, the Colorado back line maintained its shape and remained tight until the 42nd minute. Taking the ball just a little past midfield, rookie Tony Tchani made an unchallenged run into the Rapids’ final third and played a diagonal ball into the area for Wolyniec. With one touch, the striker unleashed a rocket into the back of the net to give the Red Bulls a lead that they would not look back from.
The Rapids’ made several changes early in the second half and began to mount more pressure on Greg Sutton in New York’s goal. But just as the Rapids seemed to roar to life, the Red Bulls iced their flow. Once again, it was Ubiparipovic racing down the field after a cutback move at midfield had given him separation from his marker. After the move, Ubiparipovic seemingly played a poor through ball that was intercepted by a backtracking Drew Moor. However, Moor redeemed the New York midfielder as he poorly trapped the ball, leaving Conor Chinn to pounce on the stray ball for his third goal of the tournament in the 56th minute.
Colorado would show flashes of life, though. A Mehdi Ballouchy header was brilliantly saved by Sutton in the 58th minute, and Ballouchy hit the post on a brilliantly struck free kick in the 77th minute. However, the Rapids showed too little to crack a tight New York back line.
Scoring Summary
NY: Wolyniec (Garcia, Ubiparipovic) -11’
NY: Wolyniec (Tchani) -42’
NY: Chinn (unassisted)-56’
Discipline Summary
COL: Larentowicz (yellow card) – 12’
COL: Thompson (yellow card)-54’
NY: Stammler (yellow card)-77’
COL: Earls (red card)-86’
Starting Lineups
NY: Sutton, Albright, Mendes (Petke), Miller (Mendes), Sassano, Ubiparipovic, Garcia (Stammler), Hall, Wolyniec (Richards), Chinn.
COL: Joyce, Wynne, Baudet (Holody), Moor, Earls, Larentowicz (Ballouchy), Labauex, Lopez, Thompson (Cummings), Clark, Amarikwa (Akpan.
Kristian Dyer is a reporter for MLSSoccer.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
