E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The day before a massive game with playoff implications, Juan Carlos Osorio called the timing of the suspensions of starters Jeff Parke and Jon Conway for testing positive for performance enhancing substances "the worst possible scenario."
On Saturday, the Red Bulls coach had the best possible one, getting a pair of goals from Juan Pablo Angel and a remarkable long distance strike from Danny Cepero, who capped a memorable debut with the first goal by a goalkeeper in MLS history in a 3-0 victory against the Columbus Crew at Giants Stadium.
Cepero received all the attention in the locker room for his 81-yard free kick that bounced at the top of the 18-yard box and over the head of Columbus Crew goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum for a much-needed insurance goal seven minutes from full time. But the Red Bulls are still talking about the playoffs because of yet another brilliant performance by Angel.
"I think sometimes we sacrifice him because we play him by himself," Osorio said of Angel. "I think with the right service he is the top striker in this league."
After a scoreless first half, Angel stuck for the game's first goal three minutes after halftime, getting on the end of a Mac Kandji through ball and tapping it past the onrushing Gruenebaum.
The Crew equalized in the 62nd minute on a goal by Steven Lenhart and the Red Bulls entered the final 20 minutes needing another goal to keep their playoff hopes alive. Once again, the Red Bulls captain delivered, this time hitting a side volley after taking Seth Stammler's header off his chest for his 13th goal of the year.
"It was a matter of getting the job done. We're very pleased. (This) is the night to enjoy, but we have a big match on Thursday," Angel said, referring to the regular-season finale at Chicago. "It is far from over, we still have a job to do. We have to enjoy today after a very difficult week. I think the team stood up and we played really well today. We deserved to win."
Despite Angel carrying his team on his back, the Red Bulls still needed a historic goal by Cepero for some breathing room. After referee Michael Kennedy booked Dave van den Bergh and Pat Noonan for unsporting behavior, Cepero pushed his team up the field and prepared to take a kick from about 10 yards outside the New York penalty area.
The 23-year-old from Baldwin, N.Y., launched his kick 60 yards in the air before the ball bounced at the top of the 18-yard box and over the head of Gruenebaum. So when did Cepero know it was a goal?
"I had no idea. I just put it in the general area with no intention of scoring and kind of hit it somewhere where my teammates could do something with it," he said. "I didn't even know it went in until I had to ask Kevin (Goldthwaite) and be like, 'Uh, did that go in?' and he said, 'Yeah.' I go, 'Do I get credit for that?' and he says, 'Absolutely.' It wasn't until right then."
While Cepero gains notoriety for being the first goalkeeper in MLS history to score a goal, the rookie came up huge filling in for Conway, who along with Parke, have been banned 10 games.
"In a massive game and a must-win for us, he came up massively when we needed him to and showed maturity beyond his years," Andrew Boyens said.
Osorio went with a 4-3-3 formation and used the same backline (Goldthwaite, Diego Jimenez, Boyens and Chris Leitch) that recorded shutouts against Houston and D.C. this year to protect Cepero and provide a little extra cover.
Cepero had to wait until the final moments of the first half to make his first MLS save, but what a save it was, as he pushed Ezra Hendrickson's point-blank header of a Guillermo Barros Schelotto corner kick over the crossbar.
"I don't know if it was on camera, but I took a huge sigh of relief when I saw that I can get this one, I can finally make a save and get it out," Cepero said. "There's nothing like getting that first save and breathing that sigh of relief and being like I've been here before."
Cepero didn't get to finish his statement because Boyens snuck around the horde of media surrounding Cepero's locker and pushed a shaving cream pie into the rookie's face.
It was one of the only things Cepero couldn't stop on his dream debut.
As if it wasn't eventual enough of a night, before the match Parke issued a statement through the team apologizing to "family, teammates, coaches, friends and fans ... for the events that have taken place that have led to this decision by Major League Soccer."
While he has yet to speak publicly about his suspension, Parke said he accepts full responsibility for purchasing the over-the-counter supplement that contained androstatriendione (ATD), the central defender said the banned substance wasn't on the list of ingredients of the supplement he purchased at a "nationally recognized retail chain."
"It is important for me to share with you that I was unaware of the fact that the supplement I took had any ingredients that would put me in the place that I am today," Parke said.
As well, New York Yankees outfielder Bobby Abreu participated in a ceremonial pre-game kick. The native of Venezuela has gotten to know Red Bulls midfielder Jorge Rojas since "El Zurdo" arrived in New York in July.
"We shared shirts and right now we keep in touch and just starting a friendly relationship," Abreu said. "He's good. He's one of those guys that put our team in Venezuela in a good way; he knows how to make things happen. He's one of the guys for us."
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