Cepero saves reserves against Chicago, 1:0
September 2, 2007 (Official Game Summary)
Behind a Mike Magee first half goal, the New York Red Bulls reserves defeated the Chicago Fire reserves, 1-0, at Giants Stadium on Sunday morning. Goalkeeper Danny Cepero helped preserve the shutout, saving a second half stoppage time penalty kick.
The Red Bulls had the first scoring chance of the match in the 8th minute when Sinisa Ubiparipovic took a cross field pass on the left wing and raced into the box before putting in a shot that was pushed out of play.
Three minutes later, the Red Bulls went ahead. Markus Schopp had the ball on the right wing and crossed it into Magee's path, who stayed onside and blasted a shot past Jon Busch for his first goal of the season.
New York continued to pour on the pressure and almost went ahead in the 14th minute when Francis Doe passed the ball in the penalty box to Ubiparipovic, who back heeled it to Schopp. Schopp buzzed a shot that just curled over the crossbar.
In the 25th minute, the Fire went down to 10 men when Dasan Robinson earned his second yellow card after a tackle from behind on Ubiparipovic. Shortly after, the Red Bulls almost took advantage when Elie Ikangu made a run into the box and slotted it to Doe, whose shot was blocked by an on-rushing Busch.
Magee almost had his second goal of the match in the 43rd minute when he latched onto a Randi Patterson through ball and slotted it past Busch, but the linesman ruled that he was offsides.
After the halftime intermission, the Red Bulls continued to look for their second goal and Magee was close again when his shot from 15 yards out clipped the right post in the 52nd minute. Moments later, Chad Barrett had the Fire's best chance up to that point when he took the ball into the left side of the penalty box before getting off a shot that defender Carlos Mendes cleared off the line.
In the 67th minute, Jerrod Laventure, who just came into the game, had a golden opportunity when he was put through by Dema Kovalenko, but goalkeeper Nick Noble was able to make a sprawling save. Twelve minutes later, Sal Caccavale hit a shot from 15 yards out just over the bar.
With seconds remaining in the game, the Fire earned a penalty after Hunter Freeman took down Floyd Franks in the box. Barrett stepped up to take the penalty but Cepero guessed correctly, diving to his left to block the shot.
|
