For those able to travel to the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Tuesday night, the knockout bout between the L.A. Galaxy and New York Red Bulls in the (unbroadcasted) Lamar Hunt Open Cup was an eventful affair.
According to MLSNet, the Bulls absolutely dominated the qualifying match but fell, 3-1, in overtime. Strikers Jozy Altidore and Clint Mathis each had several opportunities to score, including a missed penalty kick from Altidore, but rather than poor finishing, the Bulls’ failure to find the net came down to a career performance from the Galaxy’s reserve keeper Steve Cronin, whose 10 saves — several of them spectacular — kept the home side in it. The game also marked the debut of Colombian Juan Pablo Angel, who came on as a sub in the 62nd minute. Angel didn’t manage to score in regular time, though he caused the L.A. defense all kinds of problems, particularly in the air. Before then, Cobi Jones was sent off for uncharacteristically stomping on Bulls winger Dave van den Bergh, but 15 minutes later, Dema Kovalenko evened up the numbers after receiving his second yellow card.
After 90 testy, scoreless minutes, the Galaxy broke out in the first minutes of overtime, Landon Donovan converting a spot-kick for a foul on Pete Vagenas. Less than 10 minutes later, Kyle Martino doubled the Galaxy’s lead with a fine header from a Santino Quaranta cross. The Red Bulls bounced back in the second period thanks to an unstoppable free kick from Angel. As the Bulls pressed forward looking for an equalizer, Donovan managed to squeeze in behind the defense, feeding an unmarked Quaranta, to finish the match off in front of an open net.