Red Bulls break out for 5 goals
VICTOR VAZQUEZ drilled a penalty kick past Sean Johnson in the first minute of stoppage time and Toronto FC escaped with a 2-2 draw against New York City FC on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, ruining NYCFC’s chances of gaining on Toronto in the Eastern Conference standings.
Jordan Hamilton was clipped and taken down by NYCFC’s RJ Allen in the penalty area in the 90th minute, setting up Vazquez’s penalty kick.
Toronto (11-3-6) moved a point ahead of Chicago for the Eastern Conference and overall MLS lead.
Trailing 1-0, New York City (10-6-4) responded with back-to-back scores. David Villa scored his 13th goal of the season in extra time of the first half, and Maximiliano Moralez made it 2-1 in the 56th.
Toronto was playing without Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley, who were both playing for the U.S. national team in the Gold Cup quarterfinals Wednesday night. — AP DANIEL ROYER scored twice in a minute span late in the Red Bulls’ 5-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday night.
Royer scored in the 90th and 91st minutes. He has seven goals this season.
The five goals are the most the Red Bulls (9-8-2) have scored this season and the most the Earthquakes (7-8-5) have allowed. The Red Bulls have won two in a row for the first time since a three-game BY USA TODAY SPORTS PHOTO streak in April.
Sean Davis opened the scoring for New York in the 38th minute. Sacha Kljestan scored in the 73rd minute, scooping up a ricochet from Earthquakes forward Simon Dawkins in front of the net and powering it through. Kljestan also had a pair of assists for New York.
Felipe made it, 3-0, in the 75th, and Valeri Kazaishvili struck for San Jose in the 88th. —AP PHILADELPHIA — Omar Gonzalez and Eric Lichaj scored late in the first half and the United States beat El Salvador 2-0 on Wednesday night in an ugly CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal during which defender Henry Romero appeared to first bite Jozy Altidore on the back of a shoulder and then pull the American forward’s nipple.
Canadian referee Drew Fischer, a Major League Soccer regular, did not penalize the incident, which occurred during a skirmish on the goal line in the 57th minute ahead of a U.S. corner kick. A furious Altidore shoved down Romero after the apparent bite in his left shoulder area, then grimaced and fell to the ground after having his nipple twisted, but remained in the game.
Romero still could face discipline later, CONCACAF said.
The Americans, who started five veterans added for the tournament’s knockout phase, overcame shaky defensive play and poor passing, advancing to a semifinal against Costa Rica on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
Bruce Arena changed all 11 starters for the second straight game and at 7-0-5 set a record for longest unbeaten streak at the start of a U.S. coaching tenure, topping Bob Bradley’s 10-0-1 in 2007.
The U.S. improved to 6-0 against El Salvador in the Gold Cup, also winning quarterfinals 4-0 in 2002 and 5-1 in 2013. The Americans are 17-1-5 overall against the Salvadorians, the only loss an exhibition at San Salvador in 1992.
Altidore, forward Clint Dempsey, midfielders Michael Bradley and Darlington Nagbe, and goalkeeper Tim Howard were all added to the lineup.
A crowd of 31,615 at half-filled Lincoln Financial Field was evenly split with supporters of both teams. —AP