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U.S. Open Cup: New York at San Jose (Match Night Commentary)

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By SEAN RUBIO

The New York Red Bulls and San Jose Earthquakes begin their U.S. Open Cup campaigns tonight in a play-in match at Buck Shaw Stadium in San Jose.

A rest for many starters on both sides seems to be on tap tonight as the two MLS strugglers look to rest key players for crucial league matches this weekend.

I will be providing running commentary throughout the match so feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action.

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FULLTIME– To be fair, it was an even match, one that could have gone either way.  Woly's second half strike was the difference, as New York broke on the counter to beat Weber to the near post.  Thanks for reading.

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FULLTIME– New York withstands late pressure from San Jose to win 2-1.  They will now face DC United in the next play-in round  of the U.S. Open Cup.

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90th Minute– FK just inside the NY half, taken by Weber, the goalie.  Campos got close, but clutched by Cepero.

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90th Minute– SJ pressures but can't get a shot off, cleared acrobatically by Carlos Johnson.  NY have the counter, but Woly happy to take it to the corner.

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90th Minute– 3 minutes of stoppage time.  As you might have guessed, nothing came from the corner.

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90th Minute-  San Jose set pieces still lack any sort of danger, but they win another via Carlos Johnson's touch.

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89th Minute-  Boyens mis-hits backpass, SJ corner.

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88th Minute– New York still keeping the ball, happy to knock it around and make San Jose chase. 

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87th Minute-  Ever since Wolyniec's goal, New York have dominated possession.  San Jose playing frustrated.

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86th Minute-  Sub New York: Oduro out, Hall in.

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84th Minute– FK to New York deep on the right flank.  Borman straight to Weber.  Jeremy Hall to come on.

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83rd Minute– Convey with a short chip to Campos, who chests to himself, and tried a bycycle kick.  The chance goes just over the bar.  Sub San Jose: McDonald out, Alvarez in.

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83rd Minute– Pietravallo yellow card for blatant handball 30 yards from goal, just to the left of the frame.

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81st Minute– That goal was definitely against the run of play, but this time Zaher was no where to be found.  Denton shifted over to the left which left the middle open for Woly to find space for the finish.

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80th MinuteGOAL NEW YORK! Ubi springs Oduro down the right (again), Oduro centers (again), and this time Wolyniec finds the back of the net with a sliding finish.  New York 2, San Jose 1.

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79th Minute– His name hasn't been called much, but Sassano has had a strong game, both breaking up SJ attacks and starting movements for New York.

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78th Minute– All the possession that New York had maintained this half has become non-existent since the SJ goal.

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77th Minute– Sassano yellow carded for a tackle from behind on Convey.  He (Convey) has caused problems ever since his entrance into the match.

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75th Minute-  Oduro breaks down the right, and plays a good sharp ball across the middle.  Cleared by SJ.  Oduro is giving Zaher the run around here in the second half.

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73rd Minute– Petke whistled for a foul on Amarikwa.  They continue battling, and it has begun to get a little chipper between both of them.

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70th Minute-  It looked as though NY was complaining about where the throw-in was taken from.  Oduro with a half volley that goes wide of the goal.

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70th MinuteGOAL SAN JOSE.  Very interesting sequence.  New York unhappy with the official.  A throw-in was called for San Jose, which caught NY off guard.  A quick throw from Leitch sprung Campos free, who ran into the box and finished far post. 

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69th Minute-  More corners for San Jose.  The first deflected away for another.  This time the ball stays inside the penalty area for what seems like ages before finally cleared away.

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68th Minute– Dangerous ball by Borman from the freekick, but Woly can't find the finish.

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67th Minute-  Denton yellow card for a late slide tackle on Oduro.  Fair call, no complaining from SJ.

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66th Minute-  Salinas beats Petke down the right, but can't find the final ball.  San Jose has done nothing with their set pieces all night, but the speed on the flanks looks to be troubling.

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65th Minute– New York looking to keep the game slow, while a Convey long ball is run out by Petke for yet another corner.

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64th Minute– Overall, a slow start to the half, much like the first half.  San Jose working to pick up the pace via Convey, who wins another corner.

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63rd Minute– Announced attendance: 4,011.

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62nd Minute– Amarikwa forces a corner, which is tipped away from Cepero.  Zaher and Convey combining down the left, but Zaher again mishits a cross as it goes over everyone's head.

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59th Minute– San Jose sub: Convey in, Johnson out.

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58th Minute– More possession from New York.  Oduro crosses in to Mbuta on two occasions, but Mbuta cannot control either ball.

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57th Minute– Good ball in by Salinas, touched away by Petke.  First real chance for either side this half.

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56th Minute– Good, slow build up from New York which ends with a cross from Johnson that says too far.  First sub for New York:  Mbuta in, Kandji out.

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53rd Minute– Amarikwa flick-on header opens up Johnson on the left, who plays back to Zaher, but Zaher with a poor cross that is easily cleared.  Still all of the play coming from New York's right, San Jose's left.

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51th Minute– Oduro with a step on Zaher, cuts back for Sassano, but broken up by the San Jose defense.

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49th Minute– Pietravallo with a shot from 35 yards out that never troubles Weber.

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49th Minute– Most of the play early coming down New York's right side.  Gray with a scary back pass that Woly almost catches up to.

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47th Minute– Pablo Camps yellow carded after matching up against two NY players.  Campos, like Amarikwa, is a physical forward, but definitely has the size to match, at around 6'3".

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46th Minute– Pablo Campos enters the game for Davide Somma for San Jose.  No changes for New York.  New York now going left to right, San Jose right to left.

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HALFTIME– Halftime stats:

Shots: NY 5, SJ 4

Shots on Goal: NY 3, SJ 1

Saves: NY 1, SJ 2

Fouls: NY 3, SJ 6

Corners: NY 4, SJ 3

Offsides: NY 2, SJ 1

Salinas' yellow card officially attributed to "Lack of respect for the game".  Petke's goal officially unassisted.

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HALFTIME– Looking at San Jose's injury report, Nick Garcia and Jamil Roberts are both out due to "flu-like symptoms."  Roberts, a reserve, would have most likely slotted in for Denton or Leitch.  Cue swine flu jokes.

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HALFTIME– San Jose with the majority of possession, but can't do enough to cancel out Petke's 2nd minute strike.  Amarikwa and Kandji leading their team's respective charges, with Wolyniec and Sassano also playing well for the Red Bulls.  New York 1, San Jose 0.

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45th Minute– Another late chance for San Jose, but the shot fizzes past the crossbar.  End of half.

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45th Minute– 1 minute of stoppage time.

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45th Minute– Late chance for San Jose as Elliot slips through, tries to pass across the middle to Amarikwa, but is swept away by Petke.

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43rd Minute– The pace of the game has slowed considerably here in the waning minutes, as it looks like both sides are ready to head to half-time and regroup.

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41st Minute– Pietravallo with a nice long ball to Oduro, but called back for offside.  Not a lot of complaints from NY, but it looked close.

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40th Minute– Amarikwa slips as he receives a through ball from Salinas.  Petke was beaten.

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38th Minute– Salinas and Ubi get tangled up, but play on says Mariscal.  After the ball goes out, Mariscal comes back and gives Salinas the yellow card for retaliation.

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37th Minute– San Jose called for a foul on the corner.  Pietravallo, Ubi, and Sassano are having a hard time maintaining possession against the wide play of San Jose through Salinas, Johnson, and Amarikwa.

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35th Minute– Amarikwa again!  Working on Boyens this time, takes the early shot and forces a save from Cepero and a corner.

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34th Minute– Amarikwa again down the right flank, this time leaves for Salinas, who crosses well but no one on the far post to finish.

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33rd Minute– Unlike the previous challenge, Boyens takes offense from a late slide by McDonald.  Boyens jumped over it, but got in McDonald's face right after, with some slight bumping between the two.  Nothing too bad, but you can see that  both teams are here to prove themselves.

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31st Minute– Carlos Johnson down after a collision with Ryan Johnson on the far side of the field.  No maliciousness, it looked like Ryan just clipped Carlos' foot as Carlos tried to clear.  Johnson now up, handshake for Johnson, and we're back on.

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28th Minute– Right down to the other end, Kandji gets in on goal, but his finesse shot rolls wide of the far post.  Kandji is giving Leitch all kinds of trouble.

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26th Minute– After a long San Jose buildup, Amarikwa sends a ball in from the left flank that beats Cepero, but rattles the far post, and just stays across the line.  No goal, but definitely the closest San Jose has come.  Amarikwa has definitely been their danger man.

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24th Minute– The pace of the game has definitely picked up in the past few minutes.  Both teams have upped their tempo after a sluggish first 15 minutes.

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23rd Minute– Clear header opportunity for Wolyniec from a Johnson cross, but he puts it well wide.

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22nd Minute– Petke turned by Somma, deep cross from Johnson picked off by Cepero.  Petke, while good coming forward, looks a step slow for Amarikwa and Somma.

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21th Minute– 1st corner cleared by Gray, now another from the opposite side.  Too far for Petke.

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20th Minute– Wolyniec uses his speed (!) to get between Johnson and Zaher to win a corner.

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17th Minute– Cross by Kandji to the fair post past the outstretched hand of Weber, but just too far for Oduro as well.  Kandji is now requiring the attention of both Leitch and Salinas.

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15th Minute– Nice footwork on the byline by Amarikwa, Petke forced to put it behind for a corner.  Easily cleared away.

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14th Minute– No such luck this time, but close.  Initial corner cleared away, long shot from distance by Oduro, poorly handed by the goalie Weber, but Woly could not quite reach the rebound.

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14th Minute– Oduro cross blocked by Zaher for a corner.  Same side as the goal.

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11th Minute– Salinas cross headed down by Johnson, but cleared by Petke.

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10th Minute– Woly with a poor back pass, picked up by Amarikwa, who tries a shot from 20 yards out, but slips, and the ball rolls harmlessly wide.

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9th Minute– Kandji and Leitch battle for the ball.  That could be a match-up to watch down the flank.  Long throw by Sassano flicked on by Wolyniec, but cleared.

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8th Minute– Just a note on Petke's goal:  It was similar to John O'Shea's goal for Manchester United today.  Petke was on the far post, the ball fell to him, and he made no mistake.

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5th Minute– Amarikwa commits a foul on Kandji after a long battle.  Amarikwa looks to be a small, but very physical forward.

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4th Minute– Zaher pushes up fron the left back spot and pings in a cross, cleared for a corner.  Nothing comes of said corner.

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2nd MinuteGOAL NEW YORK! Petke finishes the corner after a scramble in the box.  Poor defending by San Jose.

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2nd Minute– All New York to start the match.  Sassano cross cleared away for a corner.

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1st Minute– San Jose kick off.  Wolyniec has the captain's armband.  Denton the captain for San Jose.

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PRE-GAME– New York will be going right to left, wearing their away blue uniform.  San Jose will be going left to right, wearing their all white uniform.  58 degrees and clear at kick-off.

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PRE-GAME– Officials:

Referee: Alejandro Mariscal

Referee's Assistants: Colin Arblaster, Mike Kampmienert

4th Official: Andres Pfefferkorn

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PRE-GAME– The benches: 

New York: Conway (GK), Goldthwaite, Hall, Mbuta, Mendes, Stammler, Zimmerman

San Jose: Graczyk (GK), Alvarez, Campos, Convey

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PRE-GAME– San Jose's projected lineup:

————Amarikwa——————-Somma——–

Johnson——Elliott————McDonald——Salinas

Zaher——–Denton————-Gray————Leitch

————————Weber—————————

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PRE-GAME– As they are warming up, here is the Red Bulls' starting lineup:

————————-Wolyniec————————

Kandji———————————————Oduro

———–Ubiparipovic——–Sassano—————-

———————–Pietravallo————————

Borman——–Boyens———-Petke——–Johnson

————————Cepero—————————

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PRE-GAME– Perfect night for soccer.  Mid to low 60s, and a chance to see if there are any diamonds in the rough for both sides.  Lineups to come soon.

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Comments

  1. Kudos to RBNY for this win. This would have been so easy to just mail it in–4 games in 10 days, on the road, a lot of key player not starting. Clearly the team showed a lot of heart.

    Reply
  2. The man is right, entire paragraphs in caps hurt my head. I JUST IMAGINE THE WRITER IS YELLING AT ME AND I DON’T LIKE IT WHEN PEOPLE YELL AT ME 🙁

    Oh yeah, and bravo to Sean

    Reply
  3. love it, play it with passion ives! it’s all good. I know caps can be annoying but it shows desire sometimes that you know us RB fans need sometimes 🙂

    OrgeDave/DSP

    Reply
  4. THANKS FOR FOLLOWING THE COMMENTARY TONIGHT FOLKS AND THANKS TO SBI CORRESPONDENT SEAN RUBIO FOR A FINE JOB TONIGHT.

    How’s that OgreDave? 🙂

    Reply
  5. OgreDave/Don’t Sensor People, I wasn’t censoring anybody. Commenting in all caps is a bit much sometimes and my original statement was actually aimed at someone else Dave, someone who went on a rant about Osorio on another post (I made the mistake of thinking that rant was posted in the Open Cup commentary). If you want to post a line in all caps, that’s one thing, but posting entire paragraphs in all caps is overboard.

    Sorry if it seemed like I was singling you out OgreDave, that wasn’t my intention.

    Reply
  6. The DC-NY game isn’t in the USOC proper (if that’s what was meant by “They will now face DC United in their first ‘official’ match of the Open Cup.”

    DC-NY is a qualifying final. The winner goes to the actual Open Cup.

    Beauty is truly in the eye of the tiger.

    Reply
  7. Um, The match against DC still won’t be an “official” US Open Cup match, it is the 2nd round of the play-in tournament, winner of that will play an official US Open Cup match in the round of 16

    Reply
  8. WE WIN!! IT LOOKED LIKE A GOOD GAME FROM EVERYONE; CONGRATULATIONS RB AND LET’S KEEP IT THAT WAY IN US CUP AND ON SUNDAY!!

    Reply
  9. 90th minute, we’re up 2-1 and you expect us to think “nothing will come out of a SJ corner”; we Metro-RB fans think a little different…I’m dying here man!!!!

    Reply
  10. for such a class site, don’t let yourself get too big headed, don’t sensor people, blogs can pop up anywhere… soccer is for the people remember you need all the numbers you have…

    Reply

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