In terms of longevity and nastiness, Red Bulls-D.C. United remains the biggest rivalry in Major League Soccer. But with D.C. United dominating so many of the early regular-season games and playoff matchups, it was hard to call it a rivalry when it was so one-sided.
That, however, has slowly changed, and last season, when the Red Bulls were able to hold on despite a 2-1 loss at RFK Stadium in Washington in the second leg of their Eastern Conference semifinals to advance on 3-2 aggregate, it was the first time in five playoff meetings the Red Bulls had come out victorious.
So what do you say we go at it again?
When the Red Bulls and D.C. United play the first leg of their Eastern Conference semifinals today at RFK Stadium, it will be the first time they will have met in the postseason where the Red Bulls were the higher seed.
When you combine that with the fact that the Red Bulls went 2-0-1 against D.C. United this season, and also won the Supporters’ Shield, Red Bulls fans have to be feeling pretty good about the prospects of moving on to the Eastern Conference Final.
Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch and the players, however, don’t quite see it that simply.
“The success from the past goes out the window,” midfielder Lloyd Sam said. “It’s going to be a very tough game. We’ve got to be prepared to go there and see a team that hasn’t done so well against us, so that’s going to make a harder game for us. It’s going to be a tough game.
“It seems very different from last year. Obviously we got a different team, a different style of play. This time we’re going to their place first. It seems very different, so we can’t really take anything from last year.”
It helps that fourth-seeded D.C. United had to play Wednesday night against the fifth-seeded New England Revolution in the knockout round while the top-seeded Red Bulls had a bye and a full week of rest. In that game, D.C. defender Bobby Boswell received a one-game suspension for an off-the-ball incident and will miss the first leg.
“(D.C. coach Ben Olsen) has to see physically where his team is at because it’s been a demanding week for him on that end, so you may see some changes because of that,” Marsch said. “They know us pretty well and we know them pretty well, so they may make some adjustments (and) we’ll make some adjustments.
“The first game of a series is often a little bit of a feeling-out process. For us, being on the road, we just have to make sure we keep it close, we keep it tight, so that when we come back here we really give ourselves (the opportunity) to go after it.”
With the first game in Washington, and with the away goals rule in effect, the Red Bulls have a great opportunity to come home for the second leg with an aggregate goal lead.
“The away goals are huge and I think that favors us,” Marsch said. “We’re aggressive on the road. We’ve scored more goals on the road than any team in the league. We’ll emphasize that going there. We’re not going there to sit back, we’re going there like we always do on the road and we’re going to go after the game and we’re going to try and score goals. So the away goals rule helps us.”
If you look at the playoff history against each other, it doesn’t look good for the Red Bulls, who are 2-7-2 in the postseason against D.C. and 0-4-2 at RFK Stadium, and that includes winning the series a year ago.
This season, however, the numbers have begun to change. The Red Bulls (18-10-6) were 6-7-4 on the road, tied for the second-most road wins in MLS. They also scored 27 road goals and were the only team with a positive goal differential on the road (plus-2).
“It makes away goals really important,” Sam said. “We’ve got to take any chances we get down there.”
Sam will be key. The speedy midfielder scored three goals in three games against D.C. United this season and was second on the team in goals with 10. In the majority of the games this season the Red Bulls had an advantage playing through him on the right side.
“Lloyd’s in a confident way right now,” Marsch said. “After he got back from (playing with) Ghana he realized that being successful on the international stage means that he’s confident and he’s ready. And playing this opponent, I think our whole team will be excited, and I think their whole team will be excited.
“We’re going to tell Lloyd to be aggressive, to go after (defender Taylor) Kemp or whoever’s out there. We always favor that matchup wherever Lloyd plays against because he’s a good winger, he’s an aggressive guy with the ball, he can beat guys, he can score, so we’re going to have him be aggressive for sure.”
But in a rivalry matchup, it’s more about controlling your emotions, sticking to the game plan and not getting caught up in the off-the-ball stuff.
“Both teams have competitive players (and) competitive coaches,” Marsch said. “The hallmark of both clubs right now is about competing. That sets up for a real battle. That’s what most of the games have been like this year, and I think that we can expect that again.”
D.C. United got off to a fast start this season then settled into the middle of the pack and finished 15-13-6. They sputtered a bit toward the end, losing their finale, 5-0, to the Columbus Crew, before rallying from a goal down to eliminate the Revolution, 2-1, in the knockout round.
The Red Bulls also got off to a fast start, then lost four in a row before going on an extended run of solid play that was capped by winning the Supporters’ Shield.
But none of that matters now.
“I’d say the fact that it’s a rivalry, the fact that it’s very physical, the fact that the teams have had three big, important matches this year already, the fact that both teams are very competitive on the field and are looking to gain an edge at all moments means that this sets up for a series that’s going to be very tight, that’s going to be very aggressive on both ends, very physical and sometimes nasty,” Marsch said. “So that’s what we’re expecting. That’s why we’re going to make sure that we’re ready to meet the standard and set the standard for what this series is about.”
Sam didn’t need a big explanation to express what this series will be about.
“It’s a playoff game, it’s D.C. It’s our biggest rivals,” he said. “You don’t need much more motivation than that.”
