Red Bulls, Earthquakes with Plenty to Prove in Climactic Second Leg

Filed under: MLS, New York Red Bulls, San Jose Earthquakes

The 1-0 scoreline in the opening game of the MLS Eastern Conference semifinal between the New York Red Bulls and San Jose Earthquakes flattered the hosts, who were dominated in just about every phase by the top-seeded club from (the suburbs of) Gotham.

But Joel Lindpere's exquisite second-half goal was New York's only reward, leaving San Jose and MVP candidate Chris Wondolowski just a lucky bounce away from trying the two-game, aggregate-goal series, which will finish Thursday night at Red Bull Arena (8 p.m., ESPN2).

"We know that we lead, but 1-0 is like nothing. It's one goal," Lindpere told The Star-Ledger. "We know that many goals can come. We are at home. We need to play offensively and as good as we can, but we're not going to sit back. The earlier we finish the game and kill the game is better for us." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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