FC Dallas got an early red card, while the New York Red Bulls got a late goal and three points thanks to a 1-0 win under the Texas sun.
After hanging on for nearly an hour after Je-Vaughn Watson was ejected in the 10th minute for going studs up into Tim Cahill, New York finally broke through a game FCD defense in the 71st minute after Thierry Henry was freed down the right flank and fed Bradley Wright-Phillips for a tap-in goal.
The victory, the Red Bulls’ third in four games, puts New York in a tie atop the Eastern Conference standings with the New England Revolution. FC Dallas, who came into the game already reeling without a number of injured and suspended players, namely dinged up playmaker Mauro Diaz, have lost two straight to fall into third place in the Western Conference.
It was exacerbated when Watson went flying hard into Cahill, dangerous enough for head referee Edvin Jurisevic to show straight red.
But FCD held on and even had a number of dangerous chances on the sweltering afternoon.
They even nearly took the lead when Cahill, returning to the lineup for New York after missing the previous two games, took down Danny Garcia in the area and was whistled for a penalty. But Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles was up to the task and turned away the Blas Perez spot kick.
New York finally broke through the stout FCD defense when Henry was freed with a long ball up the right wing. Despite having an open look on goal, the Frenchman instead tapped a pass to his charging strike partner Wright-Phillips, who calmly collected and tapped in for the game-winner.
It doesn’t get any easier for depleted FCD as they next travel to take on the surging Seattle Sounders on Wednesday at CenturyLink Field. New York next play host to the Chicago Fire on Saturday.
Box Score
New York Red Bulls 1, FC Dallas 0
May 4, 2014
MLS Regular Season
Toyota Stadium – Frisco, Texas
Scoring Summary:
NY: Bradley Wright-Phillips 6 (Thierry Henry 3, Dax McCarty 1) 71’
Disciplinary Summary:
DAL: Je-Vaughn Watson (red card, ejection) 10’
NY: Thierry Henry (caution) 22’
DAL: Fabian Castillo (caution) 26’
NY: Lloyd Sam (caution) 65’
DAL: Victor Ulloa (caution) 94’+
New York Red Bulls (3-2-5, 14 pts.): Luis Robles, Kosuke Kimura, Armando, Jamison Olave, Roy Miller (Ibrahim Sekagya 84’), Lloyd Sam (Jonny Steele 70’), Dax McCarty, Tim Cahill (Peguy Luyindula 61’), Eric Alexander, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Thierry Henry
Substitutes not used: Ryan Meara, Connor Lade, Ruben Bover, Andre Akpan
FC Dallas (5-3-1, 16 pts.): Raul Fernandez, Andrew Jacobsen, Walker Zimmerman, Matt Hedges, Jair Benitez (Moises Hernandez 69’), Hendry Thomas, Victor Ulloa, Je-Vaughn Watson (Ejected 10’), Danny Garcia (David Texeira 75’), Fabian Castillo, Blas Perez (Tesho Akindele 79’)
Substitutes not used: Richard Sanchez, Ryan Hollingshead, Adam Moffat, Nicolas Walker
Referee: Edvin Jurisevic
Referee’s Assistants: Matt Rottersman, Craig Lowry
4th Referee: Armando Villarreal
