Bradley Wright-Phillips makes MLS scoring history against Toronto FC
After a brace in a 3-3 draw against Toronto FC Bradley Wright-Phillips has become the first MLS player to have multiple 20+ goal seasons
Bradley Wright-Phillips like rewriting history books.
Earlier this season Wright-Phillips rewrite team history by becoming the all-time leading scorer for New York Red Bulls. Tonight, however, he got to rewrite league history. With his brace against Toronto FC he became the first player in MLS history to have multiple 20+ goal seasons.
His previous 20+ goal season was 2014 when he scored 27 and won the golden boot. These two goals also put him 3 ahead of NYCFC’s David Villa for the 2016 golden boot. Unfortunately for him, NYRB lost another 2 goal second half lead and had to settle for a 3-3 draw in Toronto.
If anyone deserves this achievement it certainly is Bradley Wright-Phillips. He has really made MLS his professional home over these past four seasons. After bouncing around in the lower leagues in England for most of his twenties, he was still in the shadows. People still recognized the struggling striker as Ian Wright’s son or Shaun Wright-Phillips’ brother. He came over to the MLS looking for a fresh start, and he got it.
He joined NYRB in July of 2013 but only appeared 7 times in that season. 2014 was his first full season and he made sure people knew his name. He scored 27 goals, tying the MLS single-season record and capturing the MLS Golden Boot. He also lead the team to the MLS Cup finals which they lost to LA Galaxy.
Wright-Phillips didn’t have a sophomore slump in 2015, either. He came back and scored 17 goals, but also added 7 assists compared to 2 the previous season. His efforts led NYRB to their second ever Supporters’ Shield and the Eastern Conference Finals.
He had a slow start to 2016 campaign going seven games without a goal. He made up for those games with 8 goals in his next 7 games. From there he has been a steady contributor to the Red Bulls offense and it a big part of the reason they are sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference.
Wright-Phillips came to MLS trying to make a name for himself and with his two goals tonight he made sure that his name will forever be etched in MLS history. Now he hopes that the Red Bulls can keep up their stellar play and finally capture their first MLS Cup in team history. Congrats, BWP and I know you will be gunning for your third 20+ goal season in 2017.
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