MLS’ most heated rivalry gets renewed in the playoffs, with the Red Bulls opening the Eastern Conference semifinals against D.C. United on Sunday’s road leg at RFK Stadium.
United striker Fabian Espindola threw more gas on the fire, and gave more motivation to a team with a chip on its shoulder. The Red Bulls eliminated United in last year’s postseason, and went unbeaten in their three meetings this regular-season, Espindola — who missed all three matches against his old club — told UniMas he wanted to play the Supporters’ Shield winners. After D.C. squeezed past New England in the knockout round, he got his wish.
“Even birds talk,’’ shrugged Felipe. “But we’ve got to see who is going to get to the field and play the game. We’ve got to stay humble and play our game no matter who talks or whatever. We have to be focused on our game … get back home and get to the finals.’’
The Red Bulls come back home for the second leg Nov. 8 — and hope to do it with a positive result in their back pocket.
“We know that when D.C. comes to town, or we go down there, that it’s a big rivalry match; that it winds up being very physical, that the game doesn’t always settle down much,’’ coach Jesse Marsch said. “No matter what, every game they’re dangerous. It makes for a difficult two-game series: It’s perilous in many ways.
“Away goals are huge, and we think that favors us. We’re aggressive on the road, we’ve scored more away goals than any team in the league. We’re not going there to sit back. We’re going to go there like we always do: We’re going after the game.”
The Red Bulls led MLS in both goals (27) and goal differential (plus-two) on the road, and finished second in road wins (six).
“[Playing D.C.] makes it a really huge game. It’s a playoff game, D.C. [is] our biggest rival: You don’t need much more motivation than that,’’ said midfielder Lloyd Sam, who has three goals in three games against United this year.
While United gets back Espindola, they’ll lose Bobby Boswell after their captain got suspended for a nasty knee against New England’s Juan Agudelo in the knockout round.