“I saw a gap and I knew that Thierry was looking for the long ball…Thierry gave me the ball perfectly.” – Peguy Luyindula
Red Bull Arena hosted the first leg of the Conference Semifinals between the Red Bulls and Atlantic Cup rivals D.C. United on November 2. The Red Bulls took a 1-0 lead in the first half on a brilliant passing sequence between Thierry Henry and Peguy Luyindula which set up Bradley Wright-Phillips’ 30th goal of the year.
The French duo weren’t finished yet either.
In the 73rd minute, Henry received a short pass back from Lloyd Sam just beyond midfield. He paused, looked at the D.C. back line and spotted Luyindula making a run into open space.
“I knew that Thierry was looking for the long ball,” Luyindula said. “The defender went to his right right, so I saw the space in the field for me, and I knew that Thierry was going to beat his guy so I just ran into that hole.”
As a United midfielder stepped up to confront Henry, the veteran took a touch with his right foot to create a small window, and delivered a long searching ball to Luyindula.
“Thierry gave me the ball perfectly and I just had to focus,” Luyindula said. “I had to control [the ball] and then I was on the path to score that goal.”
The pass was met by a soft first touch from Luyindula who located a charging Bill Hamid and calmly placed his shot between the goalkeeper’s legs. The ball hadn’t even reached the net yet when the crowd erupted in celebration.
Peguy’s goal, the second and final scored in the match, made it 2-0 in favor of the Red Bulls. When the final whistle blew, the New York Red Bulls were headed into the second leg of the Conference Semifinals with a two-goal advantage.
NY: 73’ Peguy Luyindula (1). Assisted By: Thierry Henry (3).
