New York scored a vital away goal to slip past D.C. United despite a second leg loss.
WASHINGTON — For the 10th time in the past 11 MLS seasons, a top seed has been ousted from its opening playoff series.
The fourth-seeded New York Red Bulls dispatched of D.C. United on Saturday, winning 3-2 on aggregate after a 2-1 loss at RFK Stadium.
After Nick DeLeon opened the scoring to pull United within one, Peguy Luyindula delivered the backbreaking strike that restored the Red Bulls’ two-goal lead and clinched the away-goals tiebreaker for New York.
While Sean Franklin added a late tally for United, the home side could not overcome the deficit built in a 2-0 loss at Red Bull Arena on Sunday.
Having ousted rival D.C. for the first time, the Red Bulls will face the New England Revolution or Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference final. (New England will host the second leg Sunday after winning 4-2 at Crew Stadium.)
United halved the aggregate deficit in the 37th minute. Fabian Espindola sprayed a pass to the left flank for Taylor Kemp, who hit the one-time cross that DeLeon nodded home.
New York nearly responded seven minutes later, when Bradley Wright-Phillips put himself in alone on goal but was denied by the charging Bill Hamid.
United came close to an equalizer shortly after the break, with Espindola sending a diving header just wide of the far post.
The Red Bulls got the all-important away goal in the 57th minute. After a quiet first half, Thierry Henry came through with a moment of class — beating Franklin down the left and hitting the low service that Luyindula directed past Hamid.
Although Roy Miller’s 78th-minute red card and Franklin’s stoppage-time goal allowed United to win the match, it is the Red Bulls who are moving on.
