Sports

Wright-Phillips’ 2 goals propel Red Bulls into conference semis

On Wednesday, Thierry Henry called Red Bulls teammate Bradley Wright-Phillips the deserving MLS MVP, and before Thursday’s playoff game, the fans unveiled a TIFO that declared him the Ultimate Scoring Machine. Then the English striker went out and proved them all right, carrying the Red Bulls to a come-from-behind 2-1 win.

Wright-Phillips — who broke the league’s single-season scoring record with 27 goals in the regular season — followed up with an encore in the postseason. His two goals in the latter stages of a one-off knockout round game gave the Red Bulls a victory over defending MLS Cup champion Sporting KC.

Wright-Phillips scored on an Henry assist to tie it in the 77th minute, and then somehow got wide open in the box for a back-post header in the 90th minute. The goal set off scarlet-colored smoke bombs among the 15,518 fans, and sent the Red Bulls to their first playoff win in Red Bull Arena and first at home since 2005.

“The ball was quite high wasn’t it? I thought I couldn’t get much of it. I just tried to get it on target,’’ Wright-Phillips said. “I was pretty excited. That ball initially I thought was going to be caught. I looked at the fans and they were going crazy so it made me go nuts. … It took as deflection, but I don’t care. I heard the announcer say Bradley Wright Phillips.’’

The Red Bulls will play top-seeded archrival D.C. in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The first game will be Sunday at 4 p.m., with the road leg at RFK Nov. 8.

“Bradley turned to me in the 60th and said we can’t go home,” Tim Cahill said. “ And I said we’re not going home. They were their own worst enemy. When they got that goal, it meant that we had to come out.

“The boys, there’s a great togetherness. [Coach Mike Petke] is making sure we remember it’s not just about technique and football. We’ve got drive and heart, and that’s what this league is all about. We’ve got that.’’

The Red Bulls also have another shot at an MLS Cup before what feels like an inevitable closing of this window. The contract for the Henry, 37, expires at year’s end, and he is undecided about retirement. There is also continuing speculation that Cahill could be leaving.

“We knew if we didn’t win we were going on holiday and that’s not what we wanted,’’ Henry said.

The Red Bulls fell behind in the 53rd when midfielder Benny Feilhaber intercepted a pass for Eric Alexander, and played a through-ball to Dom Dwyer for the score. But the Red Bulls equalized in the 77th.

Midfielder Dax McCarty fed Peguy Luyindula, who had come on for Alexander and given the Red Bulls another attacker in the middle behind Wright-Phillips. Henry took a Luyindula pass, drove through the box and laid the ball back to Wright-Phillips for the goal. Then Wright-Phillips, who had an MLS-record 27 goals, got open in the box and flicked a cross from Ambroise Oyongo in the 90th for the winner.