MLS’s longest enduring rivalry is set for a renewal in the playoffs.
Bradley Wright-Phillips, the league’s top scorer, struck twice in the last 13 minutes, including a header in the 90th, as the New York Red Bulls overturned a deficit and ousted reigning champion Sporting Kansas City, 2-1, in a first-round match Thursday night in Harrison, N.J.
The Red Bulls will face top-seeded D.C. United in the two-game Eastern Conference semifinals, starting Sunday at 4 p.m. at Red Bull Arena (Comcast SportsNet in D.C. area). The return leg is a week from Saturday at RFK Stadium (2:30 p.m., NBC).
The clubs have collided in the postseason four previous times, with United prevailing in all of them: 1996, 2004, 2006 and 2012.
In this year’s three regular season meetings, United won twice at home and dropped a last-minute decision on the road:
April 12: DCU, 1-0, on Davy Arnaud’s fourth-minute goal.
Aug. 31: DCU, 2-0, on second-half goals by Luis Silva and Eddie Johnson.
Sept. 10: NY, 1-0, on Lloyd Sam’s 90th-minute finish. (DCU played with 10 men for 58 minutes after Espindola was tossed by Mark Geiger for a high-kick challenge.)
New York is 7-2-1 in the past 10 matches. United is 3-0-3 in the past six.
Kansas City ended the season on a 2-8-1 slide.
