Red Bulls Knocks Out FC Juarez in Shootout

It was another rotated squad for Sandro Schwarz and the New York Red Bulls, as they took on a red-hot FC Juarez which was looking to move into the Quarterfinals in the Liga MX section of their table, but towards the end of the shootout, it would be the Red Bulls who became victorious and made sure their opponents joined them by not reaching the Quarterfinals with a five to three shootout victory after a one all draw in regulation.

In the penalty kick shootout, the Red Bulls kicked first, and they were perfect in all five spot kicks. Both sides converted in the first round of the shootout, then in the second round, it all went the Red Bulls’ way. After Noah Eile converted his spot kick, Rodolfo Pizarro was next for FC Juarez. He went to his right and was denied by the left hand of A.J. Marcucci.

But on the replay and VAR review, it showed Marcucci left his line a bit early, and the kick had to be retaken for Pizarro. So he took his kick again, and Marcucci came up big again, by diving to his right and getting both hands on the ball to stop Pizarro’s retake. Marcucci had a puzzled look after stopping the retake, but he came up huge. Both teams converted on their third and fourth kicks, but the captain, Emil Forsberg, took the final spot kick and earned the extra point as the Red Bulls finished with six points.

In regulation, there were no goals scored, but in the second half, the Red Bulls took the lead. They earned a free kick along the near side of the pitch. Chilean International Full Back Marcelo Morales delivered a fantastic ball that looped in the air and was aimed at the far post. Dylan Neails hustled, gave a diving snap header, and beat Sebastian Juardo in the 47th minute.

FC Juarez would level the score late in the 87th minute. After a strong tackle by Morales, Juarez still recovered the ball and attacked down the far side. Jairo Torres took hold and went down along the far side touchline, delivering a strong cross to the middle, and leaping with a snap header was Oscar Estupinan. While Marcucci was in perfect position to make the save, the ball went off his left arm and past him.

The Red Bulls needed to win the match in regulation and score four goals to force out one of the top four sides in the MLS table for the Quarterfinals, sadly, they couldn’t do either, but breaking a four game shootout losing streak in the Leagues Cup was the consolation prize they needed to help their future Leagues Cup performances for next season.

A.J. Marcucci has been sensational in the two Leagues Cup games he played against Guadalajara and FC Juarez. He was in perfect position to make the saves, either dropping to the ground, grabbing the ball, or standing on his feet and blocking the shots from entering the net. While he has been called for duty whenever Carlos Coronel has been injured or just getting a rest due to fixture congestion, Marcucci has been solid and showed that again in the shootout for the second time this season.

“Marcucci’s working so hard in every training session, and then you can see the result of his individual performance in these games. And every time when he’s playing, it’s a really good performance. And also, his attitude, his focus in the game, his leading how. He’s leading the back line. So that’s good, really good, and not only because of the PK, also in these 97 minutes in the game today. So, it’s good. It’s good to see him that he’s such in a good spot.” Said Schwarz.

Making their first team debut were Costa Rican International Midfielder Andy Rojas and Chilean International Full Back Morales. While Rojas got 61 minutes before he was subbed out, Morales played the entire 90 minutes, got his first assist with the Red Bulls, and converted a penalty in the shootout. While they showed some strong moments, they still need to get better when on the ball. A good debut so far.

“The message in the morning was okay; we are trying everything. Keep the focus of our performance to play very quick in our physical moments to defend all together, but not to think what can happen after the game or how many goals we need, but we tried everything so and also in our preparation the whole day, in both our meetings today in the morning and our pre match meeting and the message in the halftime was, for me, the performance with all these young guys first. I was also good, to be honest. And it’s not so easy.” Said Sandro Schwarz, “The pitch was not in a good, good spot. This was very difficult to play on the seed. But we tried everything. All the young guys, they did it very well. Marcelo Morales first game, that was good to have the feeling for him with the intensity. So that’s, that’s good.

“And, yes, second half, I would say the first 15-20 minutes was the best period of the game. From our side, we had some moments with good situations, and then with some changes, and then it’s one, zero, and, you know, okay, could be very difficult to score three four more balls, then we conceded the goal. But when I look to these two weeks with all these League Cups games, this is the way how we want to play. You know, onto Sunday’s next game.”

Now the Red Bulls will return to their regular season schedule as they will be home on Sunday Night Soccer as they host Real Salt Lake, then play two matches as they return to Subaru Park midweek, playing at the Philadelphia Union in the US Open Cup Quarterfinals, and coming back next weekend against the Union at Sports Illustrated Stadium.