MONTREAL – The unbeaten streak is over, but their season is anything but.
A hard-fought 1-0 loss to the Montreal Impact saw New York’s 20-game run come to an end thanks to a stunning strike by Matteo Mancosu, leaving New York with their work cut out for them as the series shifts to Red Bull Arena in this home-and-home series.
Down, But Not Out
Finishing off a sublime pass over the top the New York defense, the Impact were able to capitalize on perhaps their only true goal-scoring chance on the day, proving to be the difference in the match. Yet the Red Bulls are keeping things in perspective, knowing that it’s all there for the taking in the return leg next Sunday.
Setting a new franchise record with 13 home wins in 2016, head coach Jesse Marsch has good reason to feel confident that things will be much different in Harrison.
“We walk out of here without a goal, but given everything, I think we put a lot into it and we know it's only halftime and there's a lot more to go in this series,” he said. “It’s halftime. We know we can play better, and we will play better at home. We have to regroup and be ready to push.”
Their home form has been undeniable, as New York consistently has proven to be a top home side since the grand opening of Red Bull Arena in 2010. And with 90 minutes still to play, there remains a great deal of optimism within the club.
“We could have finished our chances, but we didn’t. Still, it’s just the first half,” midfielder Felipe said. “Now we go back to Red Bull Arena and we’ll be fully committed to get two goals and move on.”
Rough and Tumble
Postseason soccer always brings out a fire rarely replicated over the 34-game marathon that is the regular season, so perhaps it should come as no surprise that Sunday’s match was more physical than tactical in nature.
“Congratulations to Montreal,” Marsch stated. “Even with heavy legs, they fought and battled hard. Obviously there were a lot of fouls in the game—we were out-fouled 2-to-1—that’s clearly an emphasis of theirs. But that’s what the playoffs are about, you have to fight for every inch and it’s a big battle.”
New York’s key attacking pieces were often on the receiving end of some tough challenges, as Sacha Kljestan and Bradley Wright-Phillips in particular, were stymied for large stretches of the match. Still, Kljestan remains undeterred.
“That’s been the game plan against Brad and I in the second half of the season,” he said after the match. “Fortunately we’re smart enough to still make plays and I think tonight we were still able to create a few chances. We just have to play our game in the second leg. We’re really going to go after it.”
Break the Bunker
As two of the top teams in the East, both the Impact and the Red Bulls have a fairly defined style of play; New York has their high-press while Montreal employs a counter-attacking style.
On the day, it was Montreal’s philosophy that won out, managing to make things messy in the middle of the park while being clinical in the final third. Don’t expect that to change much, if it all, with the Impact holding a 1-0 advantage in the series.
“They had a game plan. They wanted to stay compact and eliminate space for Sacha and Brad to operate,” Marsch explained. “We know that the game plan for them won’t change much, and the game plan for us won’t change much.”
The Red Bulls won’t need any reminders as to what’s at stake come next weekend, but they insist they will remain true to the style that saw them top the East with 57 points.
Come next Sunday, execution will be key as their season hangs in the balance.
“It’ll be a very attack-minded game for us and very defensive minded for them,” Kljestan said. “We know that they’re very good at sitting back; they have a very good team with Ignacio Piatti as the main threat on the counter. We just need to continue to press forward and create chances while still limiting them on the counter.”
