The New York Red bulls close out the regular season on Sunday, with the chance to capture a second Supporters' Shield in the last three years on MLS Decision Day. New York travels to Chicago to take on the Fire on the final day of the regular season. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, after MLS moved the start time to coincide with kick off for the FC Dallas - San Jose match, as the Red Bulls and Dallas vie for the Shield.
New York and Dallas enter the final weekend tied on points (57) with an identical 17-10-6 record. The Red Bulls hold the advantage in the tiebreaker, entering the weekend with an overall goal differential of +18, six better than Dallas' mark of +12.
Coverage on MSG+ will begin at 6:30 p.m. with Steve Cangialosi, Shep Messing and Tina Cervasio. New York Red Bulls Radio will have live coverage of Sunday's match. Matt Harmon will call the action from Chicago as Sirius XM FC channel 85 will also carry the RBNY Radio broadcast. Ernesto Motta will call the game in Spanish on RBNY Radio and for MSG+ via the SAP button.
The Red Bulls wrapped up the top spot in the Eastern Conference last weekend with a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Union. Mike Grella scored twice, and put himself in the history books by striking just seven seconds after the opening whistle, setting a new record for fastest goal in MLS history.
The win against Philadelphia set a new franchise record for home wins in a season, as New York closed the home portion of the schedule with a 12-3-2 mark. The win was also the 17th of the season, tying a franchise record for total wins. New York teams in 2000 and 2013 also reached 17 wins in an MLS season.
New York and Chicago have split a pair of meetings this season, with each team taking a 3-2 victory at home. The Red Bulls fell at Toyota Park in August, despite a Sacha Kljestan marker from the penalty spot, and Ronald Zubar's first MLS goal. The loss in the Windy City snapped a six-game unbeaten streak for New York.
New York got revenge at Red Bull Arena in September, scoring three unanswered to overcome a two-goal deficit. Kljestan got the game-winner in that contest, again from the penalty spot. Kljestan also added an assist in each contest against the Fire. Kljestan's 13 assists this year are one off of a club record, held by Eduardo Hurtado and Thierry Henry.
Bradley Wright-Phillips has four goals in five career matches against the Fire, and leads New York with 16 goals this season. The forward has also demolished his previous MLS career high for assists, with seven helpers in 2015. Wright-Phillips got his seventh game-winner of the year last week in the win over the Union, tying him with Juan Pablo Angel for the second-most game-winning goals in franchise history, just one behind Henry's record of 14.
Lloyd Sam is second on the team with 10 goals, and has four points, three goals and an assist, in his last four starts.
Chicago enters at 8-19-6, including an 8-7-1 record at home. David Accam leads the Fire with 10 goals this season, and has a goal and an assist in two games against New York. Kennedy Igboananike scored twice in the Fire's 3-2 win over the Red Bulls in August, and has seven goals in his first MLS season.
New York is 14-26-10 all-time against the Fire, but just 3-15-7 in the Windy city. New York is winless in its last 14 trips to Chicago, with the most recent victory coming in May 2005 at Soldier Field. New York is 0-9-4 all-time at Toyota Park, which opened in 2006.
By virtue of winning the East, the Red Bulls hold home field advantage for the Eastern Conference semifinals, and await the winner of the knockout round matches that will be played next week. New York will travel to the lowest remaining seed in the Eastern Conference next Sunday, November 1, before hosting the second leg of the series on Sunday, November 8.
