Joel Lindpere scored in the 61st minute and the New York Red Bulls withstood a late charge to hold off FC Dallas 2-0 on Wednesday night in an MLS Wild Card playoff match.
New York advanced to the face Los Angeles in the . Game 1 of the two-game aggregate-goal series is Sunday in Carson, Calif.
Frank Rost made eight saves for the shutout, despite the team playing a man down from the 79th minute on after Solli Jan Gunnar was ejected with a red card.
Thierry Henry scored in the 96th minute to finish it off just seconds before the final whistle.
Dallas lost in the MLS Cup final last season.
Lindpere connected in the 61st minute to put New York up 1-0. Seconds after Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman made a spectacular diving save on Lindpere's blast from 25 yards out, Mehdi Ballouchy fed a pass from the right side of the penalty area into the middle, where the charging Lindpere slid feet-first to chip it past Hartman.
It was the second career MLS playoff goal for Lindpere, who had seven goals and seven assists during the regular season.
Dallas nearly tied it in the 76th minute when leading scorer Brek Shea chased down a loose ball on the left side of the area and popped it over the sliding Rost towards the open net, but defender Tim Ream managed to clear it out.
The complexion of the match then changed three minutes later when Gunnar was shown the red card for his slide tackle that took out Dallas captain Daniel Hernandez.
Dallas continued to press for the equalizer, but Rost denied Jackson Goncalves' 20-yard shot in the 85th minute and then Maicon Santos's blast from 25 yards out curled just wide of the right goalpost.
The teams wound up playing 10-on-10 for the 6 minutes of stoppage time when Dallas defender Zach Loyd was injured and carried off on a stretcher, after Dallas had already used up all of its substitutions.
Henry, who finished third in the MLS with 14 regular season goals, sealed the win following a breakaway just before the final whistle.
After chasing down a New York clear, he dribbled into the penalty area, where Hartman stopped the initial shot, but the rebound rolled towards the right post and Henry got to it first, tapping it over the line.
