HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – A brace by striker Mads Stokkelien and a second-half goal by Alessandro Noselli lifted the New York Cosmos to a thorough 3-0 win over the 10-man New York Red Bulls in the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup at Shuart Stadium Saturday night.
The Cosmos will face either the Harrisburg City Islanders or the Philadelphia Union in the fifth round of the competition on either June 24 or 25.
It was the first-ever meeting between the New York squads and the match had a derby-like feel from the opening kickoff.
Not long after kickoff, Stokkelien struck for his first goal. The Norwegian ran onto a long ball by Carlos Mendes and fired a first-time volley off the bounce into the upper right corner of the net.
Stokkelien made it 2-0 in the 73rd minute, latching onto a Danny Szetela cross and placing his first-time attempt inside the far post. It came one minute after Red Bulls goalkeeper Ryan Meara was forced to make a diving save on a shot by Sebastian Guenzatti at the top of the box.
Five minutes later, Noselli put the game away with a low shot that eluded Meara from 12 yards out.
Three minutes from full time, the Red Bulls were reduced to 10 men when defender Chris Duvall was sent off for a two-footed challenge on Guenzatti at midfield.
The Cosmos dominated from the outset, outshooting the visitors 21-3, including 9-0 in the second half.
Mendes nearly scored against his former club in the 25th minute, but the Cosmos captain hammered a close-range shot off the crossbar after a sliding attempt by defender Jimmy Ockford off a free kick.
The Red Bulls' lone chance of the first half came just after the half hour mark when Jonny Steele found space inside the 18-yard box and fired a low shot toward the far post, but Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer parried it away for the visitor’s first corner of the match.
