HARRISON, N.J. – Records, as they say, were made to be broken.
On a night where it looked like the heat index might reach all-time highs, it was the Red Bulls who were too hot to handle at Red Bull Arena.
With their 3-1 win over the Montreal Impact, New York has moved to second in the Eastern Conference as their Canadian foes drop to fifth.
It wasn’t an easy match by any stretch as the Impact managed to strike first, but a relentless effort in tough conditions saw the Red Bulls head into the break with the lead and extend it shortly thereafter.
Here are my three takeaways from a hot one in Harrison.
Brad Breaking Records
When he joined the club in 2013 as a trialist, striker Bradley Wright-Phillips only had one thing on his mind.
“My plan was to try to get in the team so I could play alongside Thierry [Henry],” he told NewYorkRedBulls.com.
He’s managed that, and just a bit more along the way.
Bagging a brace on the evening, Wright-Phillips stands alone as the club’s all-time leading goal scorer in MLS play. Notching goals 58 and 59 to equalize and take the lead on Saturday night, the Englishman passed club legend Juan Pablo Angel and now stands alone at the mountaintop.
“It's definitely a proud moment,” he admitted. “The names associated with that record before, I shouldn't even be in that category. Somehow by the grace of God I'm in it and I'm going to see how many I can get and I just have to thank my teammates and everyone that's helped me to get to this record. I can only be thankful.”
He may be surprised to be included amongst the greats, but he may be alone in that sentiment. Already the co-owner of the league record for most goals in a season (27), Wright-Phillips continues to rewrite the record books as his consistency and longevity has served him well.
“Brad's a great guy,” Hamlett said. “It couldn't have happened it a better guy. I think tonight he was just clinical with his chances. When he's in front of the goal and he has those looks, you can pretty much bet he's going to finish them, so real happy for him.”
Well respected throughout the league and the locker room, his teammates shared in his joy, lifting Wright-Phillips onto their shoulders in front of the South Ward to celebrate the momentous occasion.
“To be a little selfish, that’s the highlight of my night,” Davis said of assisting BWP’s record-breaking goal. “He’s the most humble guy I’ve ever met in terms of how much he’s been able to accomplish. He’s such a great guy in the locker room, the goals are secondary compared to the man he is. It’s great to have him on our team.”
Kljestan, who has lent a helping hand (or rather foot) for many of his goals, heaped even more praise on the forward.
“His name is going to be written in this stadium for a long time,” he said. “It’s only been a couple of years and he’s been on fire. A forward that works his butt off, does everything for the team and doesn’t really care about all the personal accolades, he’s a joy to play with and the kind of guy I want on my team.”
Sean Shines Again
A week after scoring his first MLS goal in Los Angeles, Homegrown midfielder Sean Davis put forth an encore performance for the ages.
Since losing captain Dax McCarty with a knee injury, Davis has been tasked to slide into arguably the most important role on the field and do so without skipping a beat. To that effect, Davis has had a seamless transition.
Pairing with Felipe and Sacha Kljestan to overwhelm the Impact midfield, Davis put on a clinic notching another goal and two assists to go along with it.
“We've said from day one with Sean, it's just a matter of time getting him a run of games,” acting head coach Denis Hamlett said after the match. “His confidence is high right now, obviously from the goal last week, and then coming in tonight and scoring another good goal.”
Since joining the first team, Davis has found first time minutes somewhat hard to come by through no fault of his own. Trailing behind some of the league’s elite midfielders, Davis has patiently waited in the wings for his opportunity to make his mark. Now thrust into the spotlight, he’s making good on all the hype.
“I hope I look like a genius after complimenting him so much for the past year and a half,” Kljestan said with a smile. “He’s proved not just me, even the coaching staff and everyone else, we’ve always had a lot of belief in him. For him to step in and do what he’s been doing, it’s not really coming as a surprise to us.”
Humble as ever, Davis was more concerned with the team performance rather than illuminating his own accomplishments.
“I feel great, mostly because we got the three points,” he said. “That's the most important thing, and that was the mindset going into the match: do whatever it takes to get the three points. So I'm really happy that the group had the right mentality, you know we went down early, but I thought we did a great job of responding and I'm just happy we got the three points.”
Added Hamlett: “We feel good about Sean. Obviously with the injury to Dax, he's going to get a lot of minutes. He's a humble kid, continues to work hard. He works extremely hard in training. Him and Felipe have a good partnership, a good understanding, so we were happy with that today.”
Damari Debut
Nearly lost in the shuffle, newly signed striker Omer Damari made his New York Red Bulls debut after entering the match in the 79th minute.
The Israeli international looked dangerous in his cameo role and is hoping to work his way back to full fitness in the coming weeks.
“I’m not in my best shape because I didn’t play in a long time, but I’m ready to work hard,” Damari said.” “I’m adjusting to the game. I hope to play as much as I can to get back in shape.”
Combining with Gonzalo Veron in the late stages of the match, Damari created several good goal-scoring opportunities on the night, making for a promising MLS debut.
“You could see clearly some moments around the goal how clever he is with the touch and his movements,” Hamlett said of the Designated Player. “For us, it was good to get him out there, for him to get a feel of an MLS game. Now it's about continuing to build his fitness up and get him used to playing and us understanding and playing with him.”
